I think that for a lot of gay people, queer people, gay men, queer men, to be like "I just happen to be gay," like no, I don't just happen to be gay, I don't just happen to be queer. I had been dating for years, but I never talked about it in my work. It felt important to come from my experiences more pointedly.
#YOUTUBE SERPENTWITHFEET BETTER EARS SERIES#
In interviews about this record, you've alluded to this recording being like a series of emotional exercises. Read on, as Serpent talks candidly with PAPER about the importance of being ever-more present, Black, and queer in his work and private life, ending his Return of Saturn period, his doll collection, Brandy's enduring influence, and so much more. We walk through the grounds of the Botanic Garden and giddily reminisce about old Destiny's Child songs and the glory of Black '90s sitcoms, and it's like talking to a long-lost queer brother. Soil is, by-and-large, a self-assured cohesive emotional exercise, and a compulsively re-listenable journey that glowingly heralds serpentwithfeet's due time to blossom fully in the spotlight. As such, the debut has adopted a decidedly more stripped back synthesis sonic architects Katie Gately, A$AP Rocky contemporary Clams Casino, and Paul Epworth (who was behind much of Adele's blockbuster 21) all help till serpentwithfeet's soil, creating a rich-enough sonic palette, that if you just add water, and some sunlight (or in cases of tracks like "bless ur heart" and "mourning song," tears, praise and worship), you'll surely feel like you've grown with him. Where past releases dealt in the abstract, relying more heavily on grand arrangements and his silken, godlike vocal prowess, soil is dealing in the realistic, murky, maddening, and exhilarating matters of the heart. And it's easy to agree: think of how many people see a tarot card reader or get their chakras aligned by self-proclaimed mystic visionaries without question.įurther driving the point home on all matters earthbound, after releasing several singles online and 2016's sweeping, orchestral blisters EP, Serpent is ready, like the cherry blossoms in bloom, to spring forward with his debut LP soil.
Serpent brings dolls onstage and on tour with him, including one named after Brandy in her likeness, and keeps them in sanctuary in his home, as if eternally and creatively connected to the playful nostalgia of childhood - a process he says isn't weird at all. I also learned in our conversation that Serpent is inspired by literary giants and performers alike with similarly compelling duality, from Black wordsmiths like Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, to dance-performance icons like Geoffrey Holder, to musical innovators such as Bjork and D'Angelo.
Serpent is inspired by tour-de-force singers like Brandy, aka America's Sweetheart of the '90s, aka the Vocal Bible, whose vocal technique and lyrics cast an impression that is both ethereal yet divinely down-to-earth. Serpent is also grounded by a deeply spiritual upbringing in Baltimore, having grown up singing in church with a mother who stressed academics over everything - not uncommon among many Black queer people slash Black people in general - thus making him instantly relatable to many.
#YOUTUBE SERPENTWITHFEET BETTER EARS FULL#
For starters, there was the open-shirted chest hair he proudly sported, a look that a scroll through his Instagram feed - full of content both hilariously colloquial and intimate - quickly reveals he rocks like no one else. And this individualism was one of many earthy qualities the singer-songwriter innately possesses. I quickly learned that Wise, who strolled in from Bushwick wearing an iconic high-concept Japanese street-chic look, actually prefers to be called "serpent." (I kept calling him Josiah, to the point where he scrunched up his face and gently corrected me).
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