'we used to bloom' by denai moore

It might be easy for some to deny Denai of her musical credibility given she’s 23. To put her off as an artist “still developing.” Though some bias might be present, I don’t believe any maturity is lost on this album. Furthermore, I think this album has solidified Moore confidently in her genre-free[dom]. It nurtures a particular stage of consciousness. It resonates in ways that take time to develop. I do not believe this album is anything short of a complete thought. It can be parsed, diced, meditated on, embraced, and yet and still not fully uncovered.

A knowing that you won't know everything.

A compilation.

A reflection of stage not age.

A conscious reveal of the subconsciousness.

A note to self.

A self care medley riddled in calm & complexity.

Finding out Moore's roots bear similarity to mine may have impacted a heightened elevation of my initial excitement. Either way, I've listened to Denai since her first project, Elsewhere. It was a melodic soundscape of tranquility. Real easy to love. In large part, this is what I expected from her sophomore album, We Used to Bloom, another easy to love complex riddle. This album elevated her as an artist whose ability to vocalize their subconscious rings loudly. Despite this, she doesn’t hold back from not having the answers to some of the questions she poses. With this album, Moore worked collaboratively with the women of #InBloom, an agency of Black women artists unapologetically creating space for their own. Like collectives such as In Bloom, this album charts new territory. It finagles its way through a beautiful narrative of a woman sure, yet extremely vulnerable in her short comings. 

                                                                          Denai Moore -  Does It Get Easier? a collaboration with In Bloom

“It will trickle into you like floods find corners no one knows. It will trickle into you can’t dig the roots that never grow”

— Denai Moore, "Trickle" from We Used to Bloom

Subtleties on subtleties as the opening track was once in my opinion, subpar. Only to listen to it in the still of an isolated space and hearing many moments in the music composition I’d missed. As I grew to appreciate the composition, my appreciation for the writing also grew. Though it might not necessarily frame the album as surely sonically, it does so lyrically. I would also say Do They Care does a similar thing, but this time both sonically and lyrically. With wind chimes and the underlay of water running down a stream, the lyrics on this track also work in conjunction to the self awareness on Let it Happen. In many ways these two tracks are communicating. In Let it Happen, a more personal acknowledgment of coming to ease with being self is the guiding mantra. But by Do They Care, the song cues us into conversations around Black lives, the collective consciousness of struggle. Both song work to affirm, but within different contexts.

It’s hard for me to deny this album’s nod being a significant one for music in 2017. For falsely assumed limitations mentioned in the opening of this piece, it may not get the credit it deserves. Either way, Denai is making steads musically. She won’t go underestimated for much longer.©

POST NOTES.

POST NOTES

POST NOTES. Subscriber only content featuring extensive additional resources. 

It's sent straight to your inbox immediately following each new post. Sign up below, yeah?

'crooked' by propaganda

image courtesy of @t_wentt 

---

There is something special about the Crooked album that for me solidified Propaganda's genius.

I'm working through the album, still. Of course we know true albums reviews aren't complete after a week, despite culture. Nevertheless, we can call this an initial album sentiment. 

A good friend and all-around trap gawd said something to me about Propaganda that has stuck with me throughout writing this. He compared Prop to K-dot. While he can respect them both for their lyricism, something about their delivery causes their music to not resonate easily. They are artists who represent a distinct part of culture, yet they talk above the heads of some. My words, not his. 

While Prop's musicality might not appeal to all, this is what makes his album beam hip hop. His lyrics read like battle rap, beats like a rebirth. Propaganda goes classically hard, yet remains modernly sound. It is a delicate & beautiful balance he plays throughout the album weaving between classic, and concerned. He's somewhere in the 1980s and somewhere in the 3000s simultaneously. It's not for those who don't willingly want to enter that world with him, however, though I wish we all could. He is present, yet partial both in his style, delivery and rhymes. His partiality is that he embodies so much at once, not really allowing himself to be pinned down to any fixed labels. Any attentive Prop listener knows why this is however, and also knows it's a testiment to his many testimonies on, say it with me, intersectionality. 

The term, "Crooked" might also work to emphasize partiality as a 'made-thing.' To emphasize our carnality while aiming to edify our spirit. That our worship is a filthy rag. That "we got fallen written all over us."

And Bear with Me.

A mood. A tale. A prematurely acclaimed classic.

“Propaganda goes classically hard, yet remains modernly sound.”

 image courtesy of @t_wentt 

Besides his ode to hip hop in dedicated songs like "Slow Cook," the album's biggest nod to hip hop, Crooked's entire approach aims to challenge. Hip hop has historically symbolized many things, but above all, it's commitment to challenge reigns truest. Good Kid M.A.A.D. City was for me a reestablished hope in the genre. So this challenge Prop poses, the symbolism of this album as a way to really wrestle with our imperfections resonates and rings on every song. It's what pushed me to write this.

Some might say "Prop, why are you always talking about Blackness, why you so political?" May I take the liberty here to say, his response might be: "Because I'm the son of a Black Panther." Or maybe: "It's Complicated" Though what I really think he'd say is, "because I'm cynical."

This album aims to challenge. A challenge is no less encouraging than hope. As I've mentioned before, hope is balance before it is ever perfection. It is nuance, it is a person whose "halo might stay balanced at the tip of [their] horns." Challenge propels us forward. 

While Bear with Me might offer some Lemonade to wash down our dry bones, this album is still not made digestible. It's hip hop. It's an uneasy salvation story, an alternate listen to an apology story #444. It's classically current and hopefully concerned. ©

Propaganda is signed to Humble Beast Records. Humble Beast will host a conference this August with Western Seminary, Canvas. Excited & blessed to be attending, Propaganda will be speaking on the topic of "Positive Change: Art as Lament." I can't help but wonder if this talk will be the perfect summary of Crooked.

POST NOTES. Subscriber only content featuring extensive additional resources. It's sent straight to your inbox immediately following each new post. Sign up below, yeah?

POST NOTES.

POST NOTES.

In the Company of Women

in the company of women, 2016 by grace bonney (@designsponge).

---

Thelma Golden, Museum Director & Chief Curator New York, NY

? • Name a fear or professional challenge that keeps you up at night.

“I like to think of challenges as opportunities as opportunities- opportunities to think differently & create something new & I welcome the charge I get from acknowledging them as such”

— Thelma Golden, In the Company of Women, 2016

Cheryl Day, Baker, Author Savannah, GA

? • What did you want to be when you were a child? 

“I wanted to be an actor, photographer, and writer. I’ve wanted to live a creative life for as long as I can remember. ”

— Cheryl Day, In the Company of Women, 2016

Sarah Neuburger, Artist & Designer Decatur, GA

? • In your opinion, what are the top three things someone should consider before starting a business?

                                                                                  from In the Company of Women, 2016 pg. 88

Lisa Folawiyo, Fashion Designer Lagos, Nigeria

? • What tool, object, or ritual could you not live without in your workday?

“My ritual would be prayer. Tool would be my iPhone. And of course, some Instagramming is necessary.”

— Lisa Folawiyo, In the Company of Women, 2016

Issa Rae, Writer, Director, & Actor Los Angeles, CA

? • What is your favourite thing about your workspace?

“That it’s ever-changing. I rotate between my home desk, Starbucks, a coffee shop/ restaurant down the street from my house, a café downtown, & the library in my building. I need variation or to feel like I’m stepping into somewhere where others are being productive. It feels like community work that way.”

— Issa Rae, In the Company of Women, 2016

Martine Rose, Fashion Designer London, England

? • In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you build yourself back up?

“There isn’t one thing that I do; I think it’s a collection of things that gets me through. I practice meditation & have been doing that for around ten years. I should do it everyday, but during times when I am really struggling, I practice everyday & it’s an enormous source of comfort & motivation. Also, I rely heavily on my family & friends. I retreat into a space where I can access a sense of scale & perspective, as this is often what I struggle with during these difficult times. ”

— Martine Rose, In the Company of Women, 2016

Nikki Giovanni, Poet & Professor, Blacksburg, VA

? • Has learning from a mistake ever led you to success?

“Mistakes are a fact of life; they are building blocks, stepping-stones, the way we learn new things. Columbus wasn’t looking for a New World, he was searching for a route to spices. All mistakes teach us something, so they are, in reality, no mistakes. Just things we learn.”

— Nikki Giovanni, In the Company of Women, 2016

Carla Hall, Chef & Television Host Washington, DC

? • What characteristic do you most admire in other creative women?

“Their ability to be comfortable with their uniqueness, be it their ideas that are out of the box, their fashion sense, their overall quirkiness, or just their confident sense of self. In a world where so many are trying to be like the majority, it’s refreshing to see women, courageously, own who they are.”

— Carla Hall, In the Company of Women, 2016

Eileen Fisher, Fashion Designer & Entrepreneur Irvington, NY

? • What does the world need more of? Less of?

“The world needs more love, happiness, & joy & less stuff. You still need stuff, just the right stuff. ”

— Eileen Fisher, In the Company of Women, 2016

Anishka Clarke, Interior Designer, Brooklyn, NY

? • What quotation or saying inspires and motivates you to be yourself and do what you love?

“It takes ten years to become an overnight success.”

— Anishka Clarke, In the Company of Women, 2016

#IntheCompanyofWomen

Thank you Aunt Paula for gifting me this book that doubles as both functional reading & slick coffee table decor.

POST NOTES.

POST NOTES.

POST NOTES. Subscriber only content featuring extensive additional resources. It's sent straight to your inbox immediately following each new post. Sign up, yeah?