Dear Dorothy,
I know what you're expecting. I know you've been waiting for it. I guess I made matters worse by teasing you about it. I know I said that I'd explain it all to you. That truly was the intention, you've got to believe me. I really want to tell you everything, but I can't. Actually, no, that's not it. It's not that I can't. It's just that I won't.
You've got to understand that I've written 2 drafts that I've scraped prior to this. In these drafts, I basically laid it all out for you. The story, the meaning, the little easter eggs, everything. Yet each time I read them back, I felt like a total rube. Who the hell am I, thinking I even need to explain this? Do people even need an explanation? Do they even WANT it? In case you haven't noticed, I hold my music in pretty high regards. But in writing an explanation for what was the largest endeavor of my life at that point, I felt like I was belittling it. It simply felt constricting. Actually, it just felt insulting. Insulting to myself as a songwriter thinking that my music needs explaining, yes. But more so insulting to the (would be) listener.
I know what you're thinking; "I'm the listener, so how can you tell me I'd be insulted by something I haven't even read?" Well, that ties in with another key philosophy about how I create with Spells and Curses:
As a creator, I view every piece of content I'm about to release through the eyes of a consumer
That doesn't mean I change my work to fit what I think a potential listener would like to hear. It means I won't release a song that I wouldn't listen to myself. I wouldn't create a video I wouldn't watch myself. Therefore, I most certainly would not post something that wouldn't stimulate me in anyway (text or otherwise). Basically, I won't put my name on something I can't get behind, and for whatever reason, I just couldn't get behind me giving my own music the "rap genius"-treatment. It just felt too weird.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I have no problem telling people what the album or even the songs are about. If anyone asks me in person, I'd be more than happy to explain it all to them, in what would hopefully become an interesting dialogue. But writing it on paper just felt pretentious. All I was missing was a monocle, a glass of brandy, and a beard to stroke on.
I imagine I felt this way because I love SUADADE. I mean, I REALLY the album I made. If you ask me, it was the best album of 2014, and I stand by that 101%. However, it felt like I was an architect praising his own blueprints. It just felt more snobby than I'd allow myself to be.
Here's the funny thing about releasing content/media in the 21st Century; once you release it to the public, you can no longer dictate how it'll be consumed because it's no longer yours. Celebrity leak picture scandal, anyone? In my case however, once I release an original song, although I'm the creator and owner of that original work, that copy you purchased is yours. No one can tell you how to listen to it. If you wanna stick that CD inside your toaster, you have every reason in the world to do just that. Likewise, if you want to think that SUADADE is about praying mantis falling in love with a unicorn princess, no one can nor should be able to tell you any differently (and you might not be too far off). If there's one thing I learned since SUADADE's release, it's that a lot of people interpret art differently. My mapping out the entire story of the album robs you of the entire experience of listening to it and visualizing your own story. Obviously these interpretations won't be VASTLY different from one another, as there are certain elements that are just obvious and almost a staple (the theme primarily). But it's those little details that people would interpret differently. These interpretations could change a character's motivations, reactions, and even identity.
In summation, baby, if I just spoon fed it all to you, it would literally take all the fun away from YOU and anyone else who would listen to the album. Maybe I will one day, when I'm 5 albums deep, or on SUADADE's 10 year anniversary. Until that day, out of respect to the intelligence of anybody that would listen to SUADADE now or in the future, I'll just zip my mouth shut on this one. Anyone that wants to know about it can ask me in person, and in doing so partake in some good conversation. Otherwise, give it your own go. Heck, your head-canon might be 1000x better than what I originally had in mind.
But, all this doesn't mean that I can't get into some of the more specific easter-egg-y parts of the album. You know how slick I can get, bae. So I'll write about all the hidden gems in SUADADE next time. Don't worry, it won't spoil anything for you. Matter of fact, it might make you like it a lot more. I hope you're not mad.
Peaches and Cream, baby.
- theRave
