“DOPESICK” is a both a love song and a song about heartbreak. The beat features sparse, airy synth plucks and grimy keyboard chords framed by a tight and steady, up-tempo drum pattern. EL GUAPO sings about the loss of a lover and the feelings of withdrawal that come with a break-up. In the second verse he bounces back and forth between feelings of adoration and disdain for his ex.
EL GUAPO (also known by his producer alias, Doc Ellis) is a 22 year-old, Portland-based rapper and producer. Born in Corvallis, Oregon in 1996, Ellis started performing music young, playing guitar and singing in rock bands in middle and high school.
In 2014, Ellis was inspired to pick up electronic beat production after hearing the beautiful complexity of Travis Scott’s mixtape “Days Before Rodeo”. As he cultivated his own production style over the years, he was heavily influenced by his introduction to a range of musical styles, most notably the grungy South Florida trap scene, the dreamy, lo-fi electronic beats from Atlanta’s underground, and the new wave of emo-trap pioneered by artists like Juice WRLD and Lil Peep.
In 2019, after years of producing for other local rappers, Ellis started a new project under the name EL GUAPO. His intentions were to release music that was entirely self-produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered. In July 2019, EL GUAPO released his debut EP “ACT OF VIOLENCE”, followed soon after by 2 singles, “BROKEN BONES” and “DOPESICK”. EL GUAPO’s music expands upon his atmospheric, gloomy production with dark stories about his difficult adolescence, drug addiction, heartbreak, and mental illness.
