Dreamkid

Last updated

Dreamkid
MM Dreamkid SBE Dec 2025 3484.jpg
Dreamkid performing at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London in 2025
Background information
Born
Ryan Christopher Morris

(1983-01-14) 14 January 1983 (age 43)
Durban, South Africa
Origin London, United Kingdom
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • social media personality
Years active2005–present
Labels
Website dreamkid83.com
Instagram information
Page
GenreMusic
Followers251k
TikTok information
Page
Followers184k
Last updated: 12 January 2026

Ryan Christopher Morris (born 14 January 1983), known professionally as Dreamkid, is a South African musician and social media influencer based in London, United Kingdom. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Ryan Christopher Morris was born on 14 January 1983 [3] in Durban, South Africa. [1] He grew up in the Ballito area of Durban spending his formative years skateboarding, surfing and playing the guitar. Morris has revealed that the first music cassette he owned was MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em [4] and that he enjoyed listening to Blink 182, which inspired him to play in punk rock bands. [5]

Career

2005–2018: Career beginnings and New Volume

Morris relocated to the United Kingdom in 2005 and founded the South African pop punk band New Volume. [5] [6] In 2015, New Volume was signed to Sumerian Records. [6]

2019-2022: TikTok, Instagram and Dreamkid

Morris rose to prominence as Dreamkid through TikTok where, starting with the first lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, he began posting tropes with 80s music arrangements. [4] [7] Dreamkid’s reach on TikTok went from 1000 to 100,000 followers in five weeks, [8] and as the self-proclaimed creator of blinkwave, he amassed a celebrity following with Zooey Deschanel, Freddie Prince Jr., Donnie Wahlberg, David Arquette and Zachary Levi all cosigning on his nostalgic compositions. [9]

He would go on to mirroring his success from TikTok to Instagram, hosting POV reels performing unlikely synthwave style covers of Nirvana, Metallica, The Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day, alongside takes of songs by pop performers like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. [2]

Dreamkid's lead single for his debut self-titled album "Hearts Don't Beat The Same When They're Hurting" was released in September 2021. [1] The album itself was released in May 2022 and had a notable bubblegum pop influence while also keeping the sounds varied and pacey. [8]

2023-present: Daggers

In May 2023, a music video was released for the single "Street Lights". [10] Another single, "Take Me On Tonight", was released in September 2023, with Metro Station's Mason Musso featured on vocals. [9]

"Chrissy", a single released in June 2023 off the album Daggers, is regarded as the artist’s de facto instrumental viral hit. [11] With 3 million plays and 150,000 reel shares on Instagram along with over one million plays on TikTok, it also appeared in Premier League football team reels and syncs with independent Hollywood movies. [12]

By the time his sophomore album Daggers was released on 31 May 2024, Music News wrote that Dreamkid was "...undoubtedly the first artist in the synthwave genre to go viral on TikTok and Instagram." [12] [7] The album peaked at 94 on the UK Official Album Downloads Chart. [13]

In 2025, Dreamkid collaborated with American singer songwriter Bonnie McKee and a synth-heavy remix of her track "Easy" off the album Bombastic was released on 20 June that year. [14] [15]

Dreamkid was invited to create a synthesizer patch preset pack for Baby Audio, which was released as part of their BA-1 synth plugin update released on 5 November 2025. [16]

Filmography

Dreamkid provided music for The Invisible Raptor [17] and Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World. [18] His song "Chrissy" was featured in the independent Hollywood Blockbuster horror film Terrifier 3. [19] [20]

Musical Style & Influences

While he has his roots in punk rock [5] , Morris has described Dreamkid's sound as #blinkwave and he is known for his synth-heavy compositions that evoke nostalgia. Texx and the City described his music as a "refreshingly emo take on synthwave" with a high level of production quality. [1] [8]

Discography

Studio albums

TitleDetails
Dreamkid
Dreamkid (Instrumental Edition)
  • Released: 15 December 2023
  • Label: Outland Recordings
  • Formats: digital download
Daggers
  • Released: 31 May 2024
  • Label: Outland Recordings
  • Formats: CD, digital download, Vinyl (LP)
Daggers (Instrumental Edition)
  • Released: 28 February 2025
  • Label: Outland Recordings
  • Formats: digital download

Extended plays

TitleDetailsTrack listing
All Thriller, No Filler
  • Released: 18 October 2024
  • Label: blinkwave
  • Format: digital download
  • "Shit's About to Get Weird"
  • "The Watcher"
  • "Run Jennifer, Run!"
Memories Of The Future (Vol.1)
  • Released: 10 January 2025
  • Label: Outland Recordings
  • Format: digital download
  • "Good Tonight x Chrissy"
    (featuring Izzy Perri)
  • "Oceanside Homicide x City Limits"
    (featuring Izzy Perri)

Singles

As lead artist

TitleYearAlbum
"Hearts Don't Beat the Same When They're Hurting"2021Dreamkid
"Fatal Attraction"
"Game Over"2022
"America"
"Street Lights"2023Daggers
"Chrissy"
"Take Me On Tonight"
(featuring Mason Musso)
"The Highway"2024
"Apocalyptic Love Song"2025
TitleYearAlbum
"All I Need Is You"
(The Last Concorde featuring Dreamkid)		2023Flashback

Remixes

YearArtistSong
2025 Bonnie McKee "Easy" [14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ciolfi, Tecla (7 September 2021). "Dreamkid's debut single "Hearts Don't Beat The Same When They're Hurting" is a refreshingly emo take on synthwave". Texx and the City. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Dreamkid Daggers". Electricity Club. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  3. ↑ "5 Minutes with Dreamkid: Synthwave Nostalgia, Late-Night Rides, and a Futuristic Sounds". Synthian Electronic Music Magazine. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 Andy Last (27 April 2023). "Beyond Synth - 361 - Dreamkid" (Podcast). Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Curry, Lisa (18 December 2022). "Dreamkid - 'Fatal Attraction'". Melodymine. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Sumerian Records signs New Volume". 3 February 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  7. 1 2 Lidia Fernández Segura (14 February 2023). "Dreamkid, el nostálgico artista 'tiktoker' que le pone la banda sonora a la vida de los años 80: "Es 1985 y estás en una pista de patinaje"" [Dreamkid, the nostalgic 'tiktoker' artist who provides the soundtrack to 80s life: "It's 1985 and you're at a skating rink"]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Mallac, Skye (23 May 2022). "Take a trip back to the '80s in Dreamkid's dynamic synthwave self-titled album". Texx and the City. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Dreamkid enlists Mason Musso on latest single 'Take Me On Tonight'". 27 September 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  10. ↑ Mallac, Skye (5 May 2023). "Dreamkid delivers "Street Lights", a synthwave bop that throws it back in more ways than one" . Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  11. ↑ Noire, Micky (19 June 2024). "Dreamkid's sophomore album Daggers is a time capsule of '80s neon ballads" . Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Viral music artist Dreamkid announces sophomore album 'Daggers'". 29 May 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  13. ↑ "Dreamkid". officialcharts.com. 8 January 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  14. 1 2 Vigil, Dom (20 June 2025). "Bonnie McKee Announces "Bombastic (Play Hard Edition)" & Releases "Easy (Dreamkid Remix)"". Prelude Press. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  15. ↑ Hastings, Hailey (20 June 2025). "What's New This Week: Audrey Hobert, Jonas Brothers, And More!". The Honey Pop. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  16. ↑ "BA-1 A synth with a soul". babyaud.io. 5 November 2025. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  17. ↑ Hermosa, Mikey (director) (7 October 2023). The Invisible Raptor (motion picture). Well Go USA.
  18. ↑ Fiore, Michael (director) (19 September 2024). Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World (motion picture). Gravitas Ventures.
  19. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (14 October 2024). "Box Office: 'Terrifier 3' is No. 1 Clown as 'Joker 2' Suffers Record Fall and 'Apprentice' Gets Fired". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  20. ↑ Leone, Damien (director) (19 September 2024). Terrifier 3 (motion picture). Cineverse.
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