Open Letter on Artistry

I do not like the modern "mysterious" artist trend, and in today's world, we should understand why, how, and for what intentions one makes art. Within our Capitalist music economy, there's no way for you to release art as just pure expression, as capital, labor (of you or others), and politics are inherently involved. For this reason, I would like to explain my approach to making music and why.

Methodology

My approach to making music is similar to the way a scientist or researcher works, as I come up with a concept, a "theory" or "thesis" to create a song. I have never once woke up and magically had a melody appear in my head as the movies make it seem. I think of a concept or idea like "what if Prince produced for Turnstile?" or something. Sometimes I get inspired by something in a track and want to change it (not copy), like maybe the way the arrangement in a song is great, but I want to apply it to a different genre, etc.

Inspirations and influences

My basis comes from hip hop, which I intensely studied growing up. I think that started my lifelong obsession with rhythm. I also cannot deny the influence the whole sphere of Southern hip hop (2000s/2010s Atlanta, Cash Money, etc) has had on me by being from the south and being into hip hop and its adjacent cultures.

Similar to my southern influences, I also cannot deny the southern "DIY" and "I'll figure it out" attitude I have adopted. Why do I need a manager, publicist, social media manager, stylist, etc., just to be an artist? Those are bourgeois concepts, as I can make phone calls and answer emails, dress myself, and be a normal person within my career without assistance; anyone can do those things. Also from the southern embrace of DIY approaches to technology and business, I am obsessed with the "raw" or "in progress" version of things. I prefer the way a demo sounds over the way a finished mix sounds most of the time, a sketch over a finished painting, etc.

The basis of my rhythms and musical DNA comes from the Virginia sound, such as The Neptunes, Timbaland, Missy Elliot, Clipse, and Teddy Riley during his stay there. This scene emphasized rhythm, swing, and bounce over melody, melody just being another way to express rhythm, but across different pitches. This is the foundation of me.

I can also play guitar and bass; I have roots in alternative music as well, but it never supplied enough rhythm for me. My original thesis in music was just to create alternative music with more rhythm that I would want to hear. This also contributes to my love for open hats/crashes/rides playing in the 1/8th note pattern or on each 1/4th, it is reminiscent of alternative's use of those drums to supply the rhythm.

After about 2020, I started heavily researching electronic music and its widespread innovations in rhythm, and embracing futurism. This study, along with hip hop, "alternative" music, and the jazz chords I have obsessed over, has created a basis for me as an artist.

Artistic Direction and Songwriting

I made that post called "The Jerk Manifesto", which highlights why being a jerk artist is more important now than ever. I believe the budding genre of Jerk has much promise, and I think I can add to the greater conversation, so I would like to attribute and focus on that genre. I am working on Copyleft, but I cannot create a genre single-handedly, as that's inherently against what a genre is. The only genre that I can think of that most similarly shares my musical values is Jerk.

Vocally, I am obsessed with the half-melodic, half-rhythmic flows of people like Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Future, Young Thug, etc (just to name a few, and also these are not my favorite artists, besides Future, but it's just to give an example. I also like to experiment with the presentation of my vocals through effects, similar to a guitar and pedals. Similar to the other southern influences, those artists' slower approach to cadences and vocal melodies are my preferred sound over more technical approaches. I also prefer the soft spoken, laid back, "I don't want to be here" tone/cadence (i.e., Slick Rick, Future, Mase, etc.).

I like to experiment with arrangements, instead of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge, maybe intro-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus-bridge-verse?? Or potentially none of these, as more fluid types of arrangements should be approached. More fluid types of creation should be applied all across the board, as the White Western World and capitalism have created mathematical, optimal formulas for artistic creation.

I also am a sucker for catchy ear candies and melodies and cheap/analog synths. (i.e., Tame Impala's sound, but also I love simple pop vocal melodies, etc).

Closing Regards

Lastly, I really have given my whole life to this music shit. My whole childhood was spent studying music and artists, my teen years were spent much of the same, but this time studying the craft of/making music as well, and now I have put in countless tens of thousands of hours into this. I have chosen music over food, clothes, a job, pretty much over anything at times. Years I have filled up hard drives just to be frustrated one random day and delete everything. For the first time, I have felt super confident in myself, my ideas, and my potential. I feel I have much to add to the greater conversation of music as a whole, not just the little beats you all have heard from me in the past. I have spent the greater half of a decade constantly working on myself, my craft, my identity, my ideologies, everything. I cannot idle away any longer, and the world is not getting any younger, and this is what I have to add.