Turn and Face the Strange

Like alt-J sings, “triangles are my favorite shape”. Yes, the three points where three lines meet. This shape carries major significance to me. 

In math/science (not my forte but I dig it when I can speak in symbolisms) the delta sign means change. When paired with other symbols, it can also read as a reaction when under heat. 

2016 was the year in which we all carried our own delta signs and tessellated. 

Tessellate: to create a mosaic using triangles.

Beginning in January, the world took a blow with the death of beloved creative genius David Bowie. I’d argue he was the master of change, and the origin of most trendsetters we see today.  A pioneer in music, art, fashion, etc—the legacy this human left behind truly embodies how life is an ever-constant journey of transition. His music could not be defined by a single word or sound and his style was like nothing you or I could ever dream. He was a chameleon.

Pop culture—particularly in the last year—was riddled with tragedy. It startled us, rattled our bones and moved us to the point where we needed to hit a serious refresh in our approach to creating. Coupled with the inevitable, soul-draining presidential debates and losing Prince, 2016 served as a catalyst for many to speak up, innovate and use their medium to react in a way that they may not have considered before.

As I learn to cope with this year’s series of events and personally adapt to the balance of changing cities and jobs, I find comfort in knowing I too have the ability to reinvent the wheel in my creative approach to designing my life’s mosaic in 2017. 

As I’m a hip hop and funk music junkie, here are a few music moments from this year that were rich with unpredicted styles and reactions where we saw people dig deep into their work:

Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” — while Kanye is known for changing up his sound on each album, the release at NYFW was a first-ever streaming album drop + fashion performance, a “living” album according to Complex. I find that the ephemeral approach to creating this album shows how significant edits and evolutions of work are. Like any device we have, there’s always something that can be updated.

Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino and J.Cole’s album drops — Each unique to their usual approaches to creating music. Also all highly anticipated—these three were all albums that generated memes and trending conversations on Twitter as fans waited with bated breath. When I analyze lyrics from their albums I can’t help but notice the undertones of urgency around movements like #blacklivesmatter, a major conversation had now and expressed musically through funky notes theming back to the 70’s as Donald Glover notes his inspiration. 

A Tribe Called Quest let us know “We Got It From Here.” — While I’m still dizzy from this year’s debates, the guys from A Tribe Called Quest wrote to cut through the thick space in protest of the election topics and sent out their message using their art as best they could. Described as an album that was “rooted in anxiety and mourning,” by Rolling Stone, we can see how swiftly they wrote and disseminated their message about results in November.

The Knowles sisters — Turning the lemons handed to her into a refreshing bittersweet sip of Lemonade, Beyonce released a full album via an HBO special. Her sister Solange empowered women through her book and album release, A Seat At The Table.

These are a tiny handful of the imaginative ways artists reacted to life’s happenings through their creative approach and came together to portray a larger narrative of the need for specific advocacies. Whether it was speaking out for those that feel marginalized, empowering women in all walks of life or just creating a product that was completely unsuspected—we learned exactly what was important to them. 

As this year wraps up and we have a moment to reflect and respond, I’ll be asking myself the following: “What will you respond to? And how will it inspire you to creative movement in your sphere of influence?”