Seattle native Cody “Sadistik” Foster has been described as “showing his scars with each song he writes” and “the cigarette burn rap king”. Sadistik has been closely associated with the late underground hip hop pioneer Eyedea and has been known for “a unique style of hip hop, one that features dark imagery, dense wordplay, and nontraditional production”.

During a livestream meetup with his Patreon followers, Sadistik said of his name:

I always get asked why my name is Sadistik in interviews. Part of me always wants to be like Harmony Korine the director and just lie every time – just make up a completely elaborate story each time I get asked that then nobody really knows the answer. See how I totally prevaricated and didn’t tell you?! I named myself when I was like 14 so even if I did have a reason it was probably stupid. I don’t think I had any good reasons at 14.