DIRTY HEADS

ABOUT DIRTY HEADS

Since 2003, Dirty Heads have mixed hip-hop, reggae, and rock to create a unique sound that both fully embodies their Southern California roots and resonates with audiences around the globe. Nearly twenty years ago, the group formed when punk rocker Dustin Bushnell (aka Duddy B) asked his friend, rapper Jared Watson (aka Dirty J), to collaborate on a project that would focus on positive vibes and infectious grooves. Watson added singing to his vocal skills, and with percussionist Jon Olazabal, an acoustic trio version of Dirty Heads began playing shows and building an audience.

In 2008, they released the acclaimed album Any Port in a Storm, with a deluxe edition following in 2010. The deluxe version featured the track “Lay Me Down” with special guest Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome. The song reached number one on Billboard’s Alternative Songs in May 2010, and nine weeks later it established a record as the song with the longest stint atop the chart for an independently released title.

They followed up two years later with Cabin by the Sea and later recorded an acoustic version of the title track. This, in turn, led to an entire acoustic album in 2013 called Home: Phantoms of Summer. Dirty Heads’ next album, Sound of Change, would prove to be a breakthrough for the now-veteran band, debuting at #8 on the Billboard Top 200 while topping the Independent and Alternative Albums charts upon its May 2014 release.

Building on their renewed success, Dirty Heads enlisted a bevy of industry hitmakers to work on their self-titled 2016 follow-up, which — thanks to its mainstream appeal — again charted high on the Billboard Top 200. The following year saw the band drop its sixth studio album, Swim Team, featuring the singles “Vacation,” in its original form, and “Staloney.” The band’s global appeal reached new heights in 2021, when their hit “Vacation” (originally released in 2017) garnered over four billion views and streams across social media via the ubiquitous #VacationTransition challenge that originated organically with users on TikTok. The song, with an increase of 850% in consumption on Spotify in the past year, took on a new life in many ways, introducing Dirty Heads to new international fans by the millions. They celebrated with a series of remixes and new renditions of the track to kick-off summer 2021 with their The Best of Dirty Heads album in 2021 via Better Noise Music which included collaborations with Travis Barker and Aimee Interrupter of The Interrupters.