Eclectic Minneapolis musician Diane (of D Mills & The Thrills) releases her first solo hip-hop EP, Earth to Diane, an upbeat, introspective work featuring themes of grief, romance, angst, growth, and sexuality. Her Fargo hometown release show will be her first appearance at Fargo Brewing Company’s The Hall. Acclaimed Minneapolis rock ‘n’ roll standouts Kiss The Tiger will open the show.

Earth To Diane is an alternative hip-hop record that sounds more like a mixtape than a cohesive album. Featuring six different Minnesota producers on each track, Earth to Diane is riddled with contrasting soundscapes and stylistic experimentation. Featured producers include HALEY, DOSH (Andrew Bird, The Cloak Ox), MAKR (Marijuana Deathsquads, Ringing Bell), Just Pete (Nooky Jones), Greg Schutte (Ryan Bingham, Chastity Brown), and Miles Hanson (Erik Hutchinson).

“I’m a go-getter who strives to learn and grow from failure,” Diane says. “This album is a product of my neurosis and depression intentionally channeled through creativity to somehow develop a more compassionate, better understanding of myself and the world around me.”

On October 30, 2021, Diane released her first single and music video, “Out of Order”, off Earth to Diane. Produced by acclaimed singer/songwriter/instrumentalist HALEY (FKA Haley Bonar), this hip-hop single features distorted soundscapes and heavy guitar riffs backing in-your-face lyricism and voice tracking.

Diane’s playful and poetic lyricism is a constant. Her words are developed through a stream of consciousness voice that patterns itself to the rhythm and flow of the music. As someone who loves nearly all music genres, Diane is carefree in her exploration of sound and noise. It’s as though unpredictability is the goal. Yet, each song is crafted to connect to universal themes almost any person can relate to. From atonal to melodic, cute to dark, tender to authoritative, Earth To Diane will take listeners on an emotional journey of creativity and musical ingenuity from an underrepresented voice in music, let alone hip-hop.

“I hope that others like me can find a home in my music,” Diane says. “As a sensitive, queer person, I know how wonderful it can feel to discover I am not alone in my thoughts, identity and personality.”

Since moving to Minneapolis in 2018, Diane has become a fixture in the Twin Cities music scene. 2021 was especially a year of accomplishments. She was named host/producer of The Local Show powered by Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current; wrapped up her artist fellowship year with the McKnight Foundation; co-emceed the bluegrass festival Blue Ox headlined by Jason Isbell; performed for a Minnesota Lynx WNBA Halftime Show; headlined the local music stage at Basilica Block Party; and served as an artist-in-residence at Bunnell Street Arts Center in Homer, Alaska.

Diane gained notoriety as a musician in her hometown of Fargo-Moorhead. The Fargo South High School and Minnesota State University Moorhead music grad fronts the local hip-hop band D Mills & The Thrills. She served as the editor-in-chief of the local alt-weekly High Plains Reader. And she booked music for celebrated indie music venue The Aquarium.