Just days after releasing his new single “Psycho,” Jay Diamondz traded the recording studio for one of music’s biggest nights, attending the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards
For Jay Diamondz walking into an event he had spent years watching from home carried considerably more meaning than simply another night out.
“The entire experience felt surreal,” says Diamondz. “As an independent artist, being in those rooms and experiencing a night I grew up watching on TV reminded me that anything is possible.”
Throughout the evening, Diamondz had the opportunity to meet and connect with artists and creatives including Sombr, Alex Warren, Adam Lambert, Paris Hilton and PinkPantheress, while experiencing firsthand the massive operation surrounding one of pop culture’s most recognizable nights.
“I was surrounded by the amazing teams at MTV, CBS and Paramount, and I’m incredibly thankful for how welcoming everyone was,” he says. “I left feeling more inspired than ever to keep pushing, creating and building the world of Jay Diamondz.”
That “world” has become an increasingly important part of understanding who Jay Diamondz is. Raised in Ashton, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., Diamondz grew up immersed in a mix of Bollywood movies, MTV, VH1, rock, electronic music and underground club culture. Years of musical theater training added another dimension, instilling an appreciation for character, movement, costuming and storytelling.
Artists, including Michael Jackson, Prince and Lady Gaga showed him that pop music could extend far beyond the recording itself. A song could have a look. A performance could tell a story. Fashion could become another form of communication. Today, Diamondz is bringing those influences together through electronic pop that leans dark, cinematic and unapologetically theatrical. And his latest release might be one of the most playful examples yet.
Going a Little “Psycho”
Released Sept. 24 and produced by Gemini Muziq, ‘Psycho’ finds Diamondz exploring the irrational side of attraction: the moment when feelings become so intense that perfectly sensible people can start behaving in decidedly less sensible ways.
“For me, ‘Psycho’ is really about how crazy love and attraction can make you feel,” Diamondz explains. “When you really like somebody, sometimes you start doing too much, overthinking, getting jealous, wanting their attention, wondering where they are, who they’re with. You know you might be acting a little psycho, but in that moment your feelings are louder than your logic. The song is me having fun with that feeling instead of pretending it doesn’t happen.”
Written by Diamondz and recorded at West Coast Customs in Burbank, ‘Psycho’ reunites him with producer Gemini Muziq and follows his summer single ‘Electric Sinners’.
There is a natural connection between the two. Where ‘Electric Sinners’ centered on the electricity between two people who know they are crossing a line but give in to temptation anyway, ‘Psycho’ takes that emotional intensity somewhere more obsessive. Attraction is still at the center, but now jealousy, overthinking and the need for attention have entered the conversation.
If ‘Electric Sinners’ was about surrendering to chemistry, ‘Psycho’ explores what can happen once feelings start becoming difficult to control. The inspiration for the song also came from the screen.
Diamondz drew from the movie ‘Obsession’ and, in particular, the relationship between Nikki and Bear. What fascinated him was his ability to understand both sides of their dynamic.
“Watching Nikki and Bear, I was like… wait, I’m literally both of them,” he says. “I can understand being Nikki and getting completely obsessed with somebody, but I can also relate to Bear and know what it feels like to have somebody become obsessed with you.”
Rather than attempting to replicate the extremes of the film, Diamondz used them as a jumping-off point for something knowingly exaggerated and distinctly pop.
“I think we can all get a little obsessed and a little psycho when relationships and feelings get intense,” he adds. “Obviously the movie takes it to an extreme, but that’s what made it fun to pull inspiration from. ‘Psycho’ is basically my version of taking those feelings and turning them into a pop song.”
From the Stage to the Runway, and Now the VMAs
‘Psycho’ may have officially arrived in September, but some audiences had already received a preview.Diamondz introduced the then-unreleased track during his headline performance at the Hollywood Independent Music Awards Official After Party, incorporating it into a 15-minute show constructed as an emotional journey rather than a traditional collection of songs.
Moving through ‘Both Drown’, ‘Mind Games’, ‘Neon City’, ‘Psycho’ and ‘Electric Sinners’, the set traveled through consuming love, toxicity, escape, obsession and temptation. Three costume changes and choreography inspired by Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga reinforced Diamondz’s determination to make the visual presentation as important as the songs themselves.
Fashion has also become increasingly prominent in that equation. Diamondz recently made his New York Fashion Week runway debut, walking for Alterior Motive at LAUNCH during NYFW in a statement-making purple suit dubbed the “Purple People Eater,” covered in approximately 35,000 rhinestones.
He also directed the official visualizer for ‘Electric Sinners’, another indication of his desire to take greater control over how his music is presented visually. The recording studio, live stage, fashion runway and red carpet may appear to be different worlds, but for Diamondz they are increasingly becoming extensions of the same creative identity. That made attending the VMAs particularly significant.
For someone who grew up as a self-described MTV kid, finding himself inside an event synonymous with the artists and performances that helped shape his ambitions created something of a full-circle moment. But Diamondz isn’t treating it as an arrival. He’s treating it as motivation.
With ‘Psycho’ now released, ‘Electric Sinners’ continuing to define his evolving electronic-pop sound and his profile expanding across music, fashion and live performance, Diamondz is focused on turning those childhood influences into something distinctly his own. And after spending the night surrounded by some of music and entertainment’s biggest names, he left the VMAs with one more goal firmly in mind.
“I’m manifesting my own Moon Person one day!”
For Jay Diamondz, watching the VMAs on television was where part of the dream began. Now he’s getting considerably closer to the stage. Listen to ‘Psycho’ from Jay Diamondz here.
