River Moon
South African-born electronic musician
River Moon (born 12 August 1998) is a South African-born record producer, DJ, songwriter and internet personality. They rose to prominence as a co-owner of the Instagram meme account @patiasfantasyworld and performed as an opening act during Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour in 2023. River Moon is often associated with the queer underground club scene in New York City, with Paper referring to them as an "NYC it-girl".
In addition to releases as a solo artist, including collaborations with LSDXOXO and Umru, River Moon has production and songwriting credits for artists such as PinkPantheress, Kelela, Peaches, Shygirl, Rochelle Jordan, and VTSS. They also starred in and contributed to the soundtrack of the upcoming film Club Kid (2026), which premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
01Early life
River Moon was born on 12 August 1998 in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to New York City around the age of four, before returning to Cape Town again around the age of 19. They worked as a mortician's apprentice during the COVID-19 pandemic and has said that they have failed their embalming license test three times.
02Career
River Moon and Laina Berry joined Patia Borja as a moderator of the famed Instagram meme account @patiasfantasyworld in 2019, when it had around 5000 followers. The account posted content largely relating to Black cultural life and experiences, experiencing significant growth during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. By June 2022, the account had amassed over 540 thousand followers. River Moon's involvement with the account significantly expanded the audience for their music. In July 2020, they released their debut mixtape, Martyr, which was noted for its "ambient instrumentals and obscure production". Following the death of Scottish electronic musician Sophie in 2021, British music magazine Stamp the Wax published a DJ mix that River Moon had created as a tribute to the artist. River Moon relocated from Cape Town to Los Angeles in 2022, and then to Berlin in 2023.
As an opening act for American singer Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour in September 2023, River Moon performed a back-to-back DJ set with Goth Jafar at the NRG Stadium in Houston. They performed their first live show in that same year, as a supporting act for French electronic musician Coucou Chloe in Berlin. They also performed at the renowned nightclub Berghain as part of the venue's first-ever lineup composed exclusively of Black artists. River Moon was included on Mixmag's list of the 'Top 25 Breakthrough DJs Of The Year' for 2023. They were announced as a performer for Sónar festival in Barcelona in 2024. River Moon also performed at Planned Parenthood's annual fundraising gala in New York City in April 2024.
River Moon said they have an acting role as well as soundtrack contributions in the upcoming comedy-drama film Club Kid (2026), which premiered at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
03Personal life
River Moon uses they/them pronouns. They underwent an emergency hip replacement in 2020, followed by a second hip replacement in 2023 during a period of sepsis. This procedure took place six weeks before their performance at Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour, during which time they were reportedly still undergoing gait training.
04Discography
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Martyr |
|
Extended plays
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Club Edits Vol. 1 (as Saint Deepthroat) |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "The Rave Princess" | 2021 | Non-album singles |
| "HARD" | ||
| "Digital Thot" | ||
| "Psychosomatic" | ||
| "SHAKE DAT" | 2022 | |
| "HARD 2.0" (with Only Fire) |
2023 | |
| "MOLLY" (with Umru) | ||
| "10 Bad Bitches" (with Chase Icon and That Kid featuring Petal Supply, Warpstr, Umru and Iglooghost) | ||
| "CHUDAI" | 2024 |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Lets Go Zante" (Babymorocco featuring River Moon) |
2022 | Non-album single |
| "HOT" (Manni Dee featuring River Moon) |
2023 | Non-album single |
Other appearances
| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Venus in Cancer" | 2020 | , N/a | Select Y20Q1 |
| "Sick Bitch (River Moon Remix)" | 2022 | Lsdxoxo | Dedicated 2 Disrespect: The Remixes |
| "Waterrrrrrrrr (River Moon Remix)" | Saturn Risin9 | Venus Virgo: Expansion Pack | |
| "Mosquito (River Moon Remix)" | 2023 | PinkPantheress | Heaven Knows (Remixes) |
| "Ouais (River Moon Remix)" | Bok Bok | Night Slugs Classix Remixed | |
| "On The Run (River Moon Remix) | Kelela, ThugPop | RAVE:N, The Remixes | |
| "Blackout" | 2024 | Brooke Candy, Chi | Spiral |
| "Classy" | 2025 | Lsdxoxo | DGTL ANML |
| "Hanging Titties (River Moon Remix)" | 2026 | Peaches | TBA |
Songwriting and production credits
| Year | Title | Artist | Album | Writer or co-writer | Producer or co-producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | "Crying" | Jesse Saint John | Don't Stop Dancing. Life Gets Sad. | Y | |
| 2024 | "Girls Girls Girls" | Lsdxoxo | Dogma | Y | |
| 2025 | "Wifey Riddim (Club Shy VIP)" | Shygirl, Jorja Smith | Non-album single | Y | |
| "Immaculate (Club Shy VIP)" | Shygirl, Saweetie | Y | |||
| "Ladida" | Rochelle Jordan | Through the Wall | Y |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “River Moon”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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