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A Band Called The Internet, Preaching 'Ego Death'

Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians are The Internet.
Courtesy of the artist
Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians are The Internet.

Syd tha Kyd, the lead vocalist of the neo-soul crew The Internet, got that nickname from a next-door neighbor growing up. That man is still her neighbor, because she still resides in the house she's lived in since she was 2.

"My dad makes me breakfast every morning; he's very worried about my nutrition," says the woman born Sydney Bennett, now 23. She notes that she did spend a year away from home, but never warmed up to life as a renter. "My parents have a house, we have a mortgage. I'd rather just put in on the mortgage."

That's not the kind of attitude one often hears from a major-label artist in the midst of a breakthrough — and it's one reason why the title of The Internet's latest album, Ego Death, is a fitting one.

"A lot of people that we know [are] just having their egos checked in many ways," explains the band's co-founder, Matt Martians. "Some people losing their jobs when, last year, they were at the top of the mountain; certain people's careers going in different directions that they didn't anticipate. And just kind of two words that you want people to think about these days, because we do have a lot of people who, on the Internet — whether it's Instagram, Twitter — it's a lot of egos that are really based on nothing backing it up."

Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians spoke with NPR's Rachel Martin about the making of Ego Death and their own identities as musicians, which stretch back to nights watching American Idol as teens. Hear more of their conversation at the audio link.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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