MCM:6lack

ELALL: Everybody Loves a Love Letter

Top 3 Songs:

1. "Loaded Gun"

2. "Disconnect"

3. "Balenciaga Challenge" ft. Offset

Ultimate Favorite Song: "Stan"

I swear for the last 5 years or so I have learned about artists so backwards. I'll hear a feature, then realize they have a collection of music and then craze over them for a while.

I remember it was winter of 2017 and I was just browsing through Apple Music. I clicked on an R&B playlist and just went about my day. I had heard the song First F**k by Jhene Aiko and was stuck because I didn't know the male counterpart. His voice was so different, it wasn't a traditional R&B sound, but you felt the blues in every note. I sat down and started looking at his music profile and he had a whole album out. After that I went into a 6lack rabbithole for a good month or so. I saw a lot of people I follow on social media like the song PRBLMS but my ultimate jam was Ex Calling.

I can honestly say I fell in love with his voice. I heard his voice and how annoyed he was and then felt the lyrics like I had written them myself. You can't lie, when you hear it your head just starts bobbing for no reason.

As I dove down the rabbithole of 6lack, pronounced black, I was thrown off when I found out he was linked to Flo Rida. I mean c'mon, Flo Rida is well known but he is mediocre at best. Well poor Ricardo was locked into a trifling record deal and was being put into a box that he didn't want to fit into, hence his first album being called Free 6lack. This is a loose summary of what happened within that deal. Just think, you are a creative and someone who is willing to represent you, back you financially, and pay you to create is giving you a guideline to create. That's pure bullsh*t to be honest. But after 5 or 6 years after the deal was made he was released and free to do whatever with his art.

Ricardo Valdez Valentine. Straight out of Atlanta and full of such soul. This makes so much sense why I love him, most of my faves are from the South. On September 14th the trap R&B artist dropped his sophomore album East Atlanta Love Letters. Honestly, I wasn't anticipating the second album because I was still vibing with the first one. Plus he was feeding us tidbits of what his audience wanted with single Cutting Ties and his feature on OTW with Khalid and Ty Dolla $ign. There was also Nonchalant and Switch, but they are now featured on the album.

Can we talk about the glo up from Free 6lack to EALL?

In between time there was talk of an album, but no serious marketing campaign. Then around early August the campaign started and bigger than what I expected it to be. He made it about his audience. He made the album basically an open discussion about love and how we, mostly the millennials, feel about love right now. After I saw that on Instagram I wanted to fall in love with him. The idea of him, because Lord only knows who he is besides his music. Whether it was his team or him I fell in love with the pure thought of a well executed campaign. I wasn't bombarded with vague interviews talking about headlines and rumors alongside talk about the album. I was included in the album topic which was very refreshing. I did not send in a video or tweet him because at the moment I don't know how I feel about love.

His great promo didn't end there. He had a listening party at a drive in theater in Atlanta, hopped in random cars to see how his fans felt about the album, and spoke with them afterwards. This is what I look for in an artist. It's the interaction and connection with humans that make the art great. True art is never going to fade away, it's really the topics that make the artist great, in my opinion of course. He was obviously going through something with love while making this album, but I believe the interaction with the fans was to solidify this is a common theme around the world. He has never been shy of talking to the fans though. He had a whole group chat (Twitter DMs) with his fans after his first album.

I listened to the album three times before I could get a good grasp on every song and what they meant to me. It started off dark just like the first one. Gave me The Weeknd House of Balloons vibes. But you can't fault him for that, that's just how he was feeling. I feel that 6lack makes music to match a certain chapter in his life.

His lyrics are small windows into the millennial mindset as well. The first verse of Loaded Gun alone makes me think of 10 men I know or know of who think the same way. This is a perfect reason why we need art, to describe what is going on in this modern age. It can either show nothing has changed and we need to evolve or it can show that a lot has changed from the past.

Now you have the outros and intros, and they are made by various women. The first go around I only recognized one voice and it was Instagram personality LightskinKeisha. She was featured on Disconnect and Balenciaga Challenge featuring Offset. Hearing her voice at first threw me off but then again her point of view on love is an opinion a lot of young women have today. We are tired of yo sh*t and I don't have time to wait and see where your head's at because I have things I have to accomplish too. Don't half ass the relationship, full ass it. (Loose interpretation)

" Listen, okay? Let me just say this: if a n*gga wanna f*ck with me, he gon' f*ck with all of me, he ain't gon' fuck with me sometimes, he gon' f*ck with me at all motherf*cking times, period. I ain't going for none of that bullsh*t. You know, these niggas be out here tryna play mind games and sh*t with a b*tch like, I ain't got time for that! You know what I'm saying? I ain't got time for that! N*ggas ain't the only one that's getting money too, like, b*tches is getting money too, n*gga. My time is money, n*gga! Don't waste my time, n*gga!" - LightskinKeisha, Balenciaga Challenge ft. Offset

I felt her conviction on that one. Definitely understood where she was coming from, but couldn't relate. Not in that place in my life yet. Then I heard Tierra Whack my second time around and I know I am her, she is me. From her outro on Let Her Go to her intro on Sorry I just kept on saying 'Why is she speaking to my soul?' I don't have time for y'all and ya foolishness. I don't need a man unless he's helping me or guiding along my emotional, financial, and physical glo up. (Autumn's interpretation)

"People look at me like I'm crazy/I just think d*ck is a distraction, you know, like/N*ggas ain't sh*t, and b*tches ain't sh*t either/Me personally, I just can't afford distraction/Uhm, so that's what I feel like niggas are" - Tierra Whack, Let Her Go

Finally I had to look up the last woman speaking on the album. Thankfully 6lack gave an outline of who was speaking on his album through Instagram. Her name is Jaycina Almond and sis is the voice of reason. Our age group doesn't know how to communicate and that's where most of our problems lie. We like to have relations like adults but don't want to speak to each other like mature adults. Hmm.

"Miscommunication leads to complication and... Here we are staring at each other as strangers, sleepin' in the same bed 'Cause it's like, you were never taught how to use your words like that You were never taught how to say loving things and caring things You were just taught how to say what had to be said So, I want the words that you don't have and I'm stuck trying to figure out what you feel Just think about it, like, what might this life be like if we put our pride to the side and let love lead the way" - Jaycina Almond, Seasons

From the featuring speakers to the featuring artists I was very pleased with this album. Future gave a nice sound for the Atlanta feel 6lack was going for. J. Cole was a given that it was going to be a good song, because well it's Cole. Then Offset popped on and I was so full with glee. Gotta love young Kiari, he was another drop of the Atlanta sound. Then I thought my mind was playing tricks on me when I heard sprinkles of Ty Dolla $ign on Switch because I swore I didn't hear him when it first debuted as a single. Khalid made me happy because him and 6lack together sound so fresh. It's like listening to whiskey and bourbon, smooth (Khalid) with a little bite (6lack).

By the end of the album you felt the sun start to peak through and shine in Seasons. The love or outlook on love was starting to change from cold to warm. Then Stan just captured my heart. If you stan for your significant other you know that the love is beyond real. Plus the sound is so mellow and chill it just makes you want sway from side to side, wrapped up in your lover's arms. Sigh...gotta love love.

My first Man Crush Monday goes to fine ol' Ricardo. Keep on doing your thing boo, we see you out here.