Autism isn’t an easy thing to deal with, especially with society often discriminating against autistic individuals, seeing them, and treating them as “inferior”. Independent musician, esports personality, and activist Stephen Emrich, (who goes by the name “Insyde” online) is fighting against those stereotypes, not only through activism, but by showing the world, and more importantly other autistic individuals, that anything is possible with the right work ethic, proving it with his success in music and his prominent position in the esports and gaming community.
One of the major ways he inspires others is through music. Insyde has been very successful with music, one of his songs Something Real has been streamed over 5 million times and has just passed 1 million streams on Spotify, proof that with the right kind of work ethic, anything is possible, no matter what disability one has. He announced the milestone on his Instagram story and his Twitter account:
Insyde has worked with multiple superstar artists such as Post Malone and Juice WRLD in their music careers. He has posted photos with controversial artist Lil Nas X in the past but has declined to reveal specifics about any possible project collaborations. He also contributed to the production of the viral track “Face Off” by Tech N9ne and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock).
Insyde is also well known for his viral TikTok videos, dozens of which have garnered tens of millions of views. He was able to pull over 100 million views in less than 3 months of creating his account. Even with the fame that inevitably follows TikTok virality, Insyde has not lost sight of his goals and continues to be humble and stay true to his roots. “I really want to be that approachable guy, someone who everyone likes and can just walk up to for a photo or autograph.”
Insyde also joined esports organization Azuric as a content creator, and later was promoted to Esports manager of the team, an important management position for coordinating communication within the esports team. “Esports has been really fulfilling, I have met some of my best friends online and through games, and I don’t plan on leaving the esports community any time soon,” said Insyde.
But with all the love, came the inevitable internet trolls. Their vicious comments towards Insyde’s wonderfully crafted soulful pop meets hip hop track made the young artist shy away from social media for a while. However, no stranger to adversity he decided not to let anyone’s negative demeanor overshadow his dreams.
That has always been the case in Insyde’s life, overcoming the odds. He was adopted and at a young age learned he had Asperger’s syndrome. As he got older, he didn’t want to let anything hold him back and knew early on he wanted to see his name in lights. It was hard at first because autism does tend to hold people back socially but Insyde pushed himself. Joining both the cross country and rowing team in high school, he broke out of the box. He believes being involved with sports truly helped him overcome the social barriers of autism.
You can listen to Insyde’s catalog of music on Spotify here:
Keep up with Insyde on social media here: