Imade iN Truth

Dawn Richard is by far my favorite female R&B artist right now.  She solidified my choice with her Goldenheart album release. No matter how much I rave about her, it always seems like an understatement.  Dawn is musically fearless.  She boasts an expansive range from gentle vocals wafting over a stripped percussive beat to soaring notes signifying the climax of a sweaty EDM dance session.  Ultimately though, my favorite aspect of Dawn’s new Goldenheart album is her aggressive femininity.  She sings as if she fought the battle of love, and is living to tell the tale.  Dawn’s visuals for “‘86” expresses just that.  

After a dramatic fall and a “Pretty Wicked Things” intro, the opening chords for “‘86” seem to signify a new beginning.  There’s an abstract quality to the video that produces a multiplicity of questions.  Who are the women moving angelically in the woods?  Does Dawn’s Native American clothing represent her at the vulnerable, nascent stage of love?  Is her medieval armor a reflection of Dawn learning to guard her heart?  And can Dawn make a dance DVD? Okay, maybe the last question is irrelevant, but I really enjoy the complexity of Dawn’s art.

In the Behind The Scenes video, Dawn describes her video as taking the negative things of the past “as a catalyst to be inspiring.”  I may not fully understand the video’s concept, but I will always support an artist who fights for what she believes in.  Website  Twitter  Buy Goldenheart on iTunes 

This may sound like a Lifetime movie, but Dawn Richard has a way of singing to the depths of my soul.  She captivated me with her fearless Armor On EP, and now Dawn stuns me again with the leading single from her October 16th trilogy debut, Goldenheart.  “Pretty Wicked Things” is a haunting game changer produced by Dawn’s ingenious collaborator Druski.  Playfully described as “R&B meets a solar rainforest”, I can personally attest that this statement is nothing short of the truth.  Dawn keeps the angst filled R&B vocals I’ve always admired while exploring a  suspenseful “forest” full of conflicting, yet inter-locking sounds spanning techno influenced Europop and even dubstep.  

“Pretty Wicked Things” would have been just a nice song to work out to if it wasn’t for Dawn’s gripping lyrics.  Her vivid imagery of love tainted by malicious forces brings me to my freshman year of college when I attended the most emotionally intense bible study I ever experienced.  In the middle of uncontrollable sobbing, I heard my mentor quote of all places, Song of Solomon 2:15.  Growing up in a religious home, this book was considered a rejected B-side worthy of skipping.  But when she read “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom”, I realized those “Pretty Wicked Things” were my abandonment issues and oppressive church upbringing.  Dawn reminded me that in order to embrace love, you have to remove the “Pretty Wicked Things” that attack it.  It may come through walking away from a relationship or holding on to what remains, but you have to accept and respond to the problem for love to grow in your heart.  Twitter  Blog  iTunes    

“kinda felt like thunder / kinda felt like rain / kinda felt like him and the storm was the same” 

Courtesy of Rap Up