As details emerge behind the investigation into Celeste Rivas’s murder, D4vd’s most popular song, ‘Romantic Homicide’, has been under scrutiny for its violent imagery and lyrics. The song was recorded well after Rivas went missing two years ago and before her decomposing body was found in a Tesla registered to D4vd.
A resurfaced video of the singer with Mahogany back in March has him explaining the bloody imagery seen in the music video, and reveals it’s based on an anime idea he had about a detective who commits murders.
D4vd calls the ‘Romantic Homicide’ character an “Agent of Chaos”
In the interview with Mahogany, D4vd says he was, at one point, writing his own manga series. It focused on a detective with an alter ego who commits heinous murder. The storyline revolves around the detective having to solve those same murders.
“A big part of that manga was an evil version of me named ‘Itami,’ which means ‘pain’ in Japanese, and he wears a blindfold. He’s basically an agent of chaos and kind of my alter ego,” said the singer.
He goes on to explain that the detective character has an “evil version of myself” that would appear at random moments. Speaking about the character, he compared him to Brad Pitt and Edward Norton’s character in Fight Club.
When it comes to the visual aspect of ‘Romantic Homicide,’ he explains how the Itami character holds a bloody knife and faces a bloodied female character. To which he explains is the “ghost of the person that he killed” and the “first victim in the manga.”
“I put that all on screen, and me and Itami had a great time just like chopping it up and getting to kind of merge creative ideas on the entire thing,” he said about the music video giving him a chance to bring his idea to life.
Many claim the visuals and lyrics of the music video hint at Rivas’s disappearance and subsequent murder, despite there being no official evidence from authorities. The woman in the music video also shared a resemblance to Rivas, and it was released on her birthday, but the official “Missing Person” flyer reports her birthday as September 9, 2010.
In D4vd’s other music video for the song “Rehab,” D4vd revisits the alter ego character in an animation. The Itami character cuts off the arm of a brunette female, with the lyrics talking about “bloody sandals.” Rivas was reportedly last seen wearing Hello Kitty slippers.
