Self Titled
With their new project 𝘚𝘌𝘓𝘍 𝘛𝘐𝘛𝘓𝘌𝘋, Kae Tempest feels the urgency to remind us of something important, that pressing sense of the present, which here takes on an even more relentless trajectory. This is how they open 𝘐 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘦, the opening track: “𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 / 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 / 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 / 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 / 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨”. In 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, the English rapper and poet tells us about the struggle of finding the right words, about the volatility of written language that dies with its author the moment it’s put to paper: “𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 / 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦”. Every project by the artist intensifies the urgency of living in the present moment: “𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦”. The themes are as existential (Kae the poet) as psychoanalytic (Kae the person). In the opening of 𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 Kae quotes the psychoanalyst Carl Jung: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 / 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 / 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 / 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴”. The track 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 fits perfectly into this context, with Kae masterfully using alliteration and harsh consonances while “diagnosing” themselves with a series of disorders: “𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 / 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘢, 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 / 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘱 [...] 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 / 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳”.
Mattia
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