“The idea is to create a monumental piece of art conceptually and contextually that is ahead of its time, without neglecting the influences of everything I have ever heard. From Sinatra to Burning Spear to Mahalia Jackson to the haunting kumina drums I heard as a kid at a “nine night” after my uncle died, to the doxology sung every sabbath at the church I grew up in, to the echoing sound of a coin falling, to the sounds of quails outside my AirBNB window in the mountains, to the heavy 808’s on the trap beat kicking me in the chest in an Uber ride, to the abstract sounds of my bipolar mind. That is what this record is to me.
To apply my visual art concepts to my musical creative process affords a freedom and knowledge to an idea that is uniquely me: Racquel Jones. The approach was a straight-flow, stream of consciousness, like Van Gogh painting manically with Dali-like compositional structures in a Kanye West mind. We’re going deep now into new sonic landscapes.
The voice of the record is addressing truth; in its raw blatant pure form void of the disposition of wrong or right. It’s my voice…along with the voice of anyone who has ever felt stereotyped. It may seem at times cynical, sarcastic, provocative and uncomfortable, but the anguish is palpable by intention. It’s a voice unique, but one that anyone can understand. It’s the voice of undiplomatic gritty intelligence, relatable to all cultures, transcending pop cultural vernacular and ‘waves’. It’s the voice of powerful women made to feel powerless. It’s the voice of black kings made to feel less than human. It’s the voice of sexual freedom in the face of misogynistic false standards for women. It’s the voice of a young Jamaican woman who’s seen the world and its parallel stereotype universes in all cultures. It’s the edgy voice of Jamaica, a rebel beauty queen, a fallen preacher’s child, the only sister among three brothers, four years in art school and a bachelor of fine arts. That’s me, I’m that voice.
I’m Racquel Jones. I create music that’s conceptual, but not too esoteric; intelligent but dope, relatable yet deep, revolutionary and soulful, thoughtful in its words, learned in its language, but totally accessible. That’s me and I’m baring my soul for the world to see and hear.”