Words & Photos by Harry Gustafson

“I know that people have felt very seen by how I rap and the niche that I’m in.”

-Devin Bailey

When Pink Navel says, “I could be a burger mogul if I wanted to,” you believe them. After all, when they’re not operating their mic and sampler as one of the Northeast’s slickest alt-rapper, you can keep up with their Instagram story tutorials on how to make the perfect smash burger. We trade some personal methods and preferences, agreeing that Burger is one of the ideal vessels for culinary creativity. 

So on Thursday, August 14th, after Pink Navel performs their final show, will they begin their career as a burger artist to rival the Walhbergs? Probably not. 

I toyed with the idea of titling this piece “The Death of Pink Navel,” but opted for something less sensationalized and alarming. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with Devin Bailey, the artist behind the Pink Navel moniker. In fact, it’s just the opposite: I meet Bailey in fantastic spirits as we get together for a beer. They can talk your ear off about a number of interests, whether it’s burgers, or MF Doom lore, or analyzing the appeal Dragonball Z holds for Black people and hip-hop culture (“It’s a show about perseverance”). 

Since their first release as Pink Navel in 2017, Bailey has kept listeners on the edge of their seats with whimsical beats, witty lyricism, and a bubbly, eccentric personality. While they’re not playing a character, per se, Bailey says “Pink Navel” is a reflection of who they were as a young adult, a lens through which they interact with the world. “To me, Pink Navel was all the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kid,” they say. “Not in a negative way, but I don’t feel youthful as I once did.” Shit. Time for jazz?

While Pink Navel allowed Bailey to gaze at the world through a pop culture lens, it was also an experiment in dealing with feelings of being an outsider looking in. By adopting a new moniker – Dotdev – Bailey hopes to take a more autobiographical approach to lyricism. They developed the name based off the thought experiment of imagining different file types (.JPG, .FLAC, etc.) as having human characteristics (“.JPG is like a mean middle schooler”). Life would be simpler as a file, something made with a set purpose and function. “Things would be easier if you were just like ones and zeros,” they say, explaining how playing with this idea of literal binary as a non-binary artist became a central theme in their work. 

This isn’t the first time they’ve changed their performing name. Before becoming Pink Navel, Bailey rapped under the name Running Laps. “Nothing I was rapping about was real,” they say. “It was like sci-fi, just like random shit. Then Pink Navel is like my perspective on life through the lens of being like a latchkey kid that watched TV all day and like went on the internet and like watched cartoons.” 

When they dropped that name, it wasn’t really an issue because no one knew who they were at the time. “I didn’t have the same decisions to make career-wise,” they explain. “I could just do that and people would be like, okay.” What’s in a name? These days, for performing artists, quite a bit. An artist’s stage name is how people know them, how they get found in the age of SEO. “It doesn’t exactly help me to be doing this,” they say, talking about the marketing pitfalls that come with adopting a new title. But keeping things fresh and staying true to their own identity are more important to Bailey than algorithmic visibility. They compare these name changes to Dr. Who: at the end of the day, it’s all the same being, but one that morphs into new forms with altered characteristics and affectations. 

Bailey also doesn’t want to alienate the fanbase they’ve cultivated so far in their career. “I know that people have felt very seen by how I rap and the niche that I’m in,” they say. But at the same time, they’ve felt like Pink Navel makes music that they want other people to hear. Dotdev is meant to scratch more personal interests, while still retaining that niche appeal. 

Whatever name they’re using, being able to perform live is something Bailey didn’t really envision when they were younger. “I had a pretty awful speech impediment when I was a kid and I worked through it,” they tell me. “I never had an aspiration to perform vocally in any way, because I was like, I can’t do that. I talk like a maniac.” 

So when Bailey steps up at Zone 3 in Allston on Thursday, August 14th to perform the final Pink Navel show, they’ll have some surprises in store for the audience. “I’m gonna do some special shit there that I usually don’t do.” We’ll have to wait and see what that means exactly. 

Once we wrap up talking, we head down the block to a nearby playground so I can get some photos of Bailey. After an hour of talking about leaving behind a name that represents youthful expression for more mature, autobiographical themes, here they are on a swingset, having the time of their life.

Devin Bailey will continue to record music under the name Dotdev. You can catch their final performance as Pink Navel on Thursday, August 14th at Zone 3 in Allston, part of Allston Pudding’s free Summer concert series. RSVP via Eventbrite.