3 KEYS: Metatron’s Cube w/ AJ Suede & Televangel
The ‘3 Keys’ series discusses intriguing albums, with three key pieces of commentary from the artists’ themselves!
There are many different elements that can lead to a successful collaboration between multiple artists. Artists may possess:
a similar set of values - Mike and El’s anti-establishment, “for the people” ethos in Run the Jewels… albeit with Killer Mike that ethos may not be as ironclad as his music would suggest;
complimentary contrasts - Pink Siifu’s hazy abstraction paired with Fly Anakin’s razor-sharp more grounded style; or
common influences - OutKast’s shared pride in their southern roots and history.
You could make the argument that the duo of AJ Suede and Televangel possess multiple of these common elements. In particular, the most striking commonality between the two is their strong affinity for the ethereal. With Televangel, this affinity has been clear as day with his work as Young God/Televangel, and as a member of Blue Sky Black Death. With Suede, this quality is a bit less obvious but still clear in his music. From his vocal style to the production sound he has worked with in the past, there has always been a psychedelic dream-like quality at play.
To my ear, the duo of AJ Suede and Televangel seemed destined to create magic together.
1) [For both] As soon as I pressed play on Metatron’s Cube, the pairing between you two made absolutely perfect sense. Could you speak to what you saw in the other that signaled to you that you’d make great music together?
AJ: I'm a fan first, and I've been following Blue Sky Black Death and Young God/Televangel throughout the different chapters in their career. Blue Sky Black Death is also super important to Seattle so I'm glad to be a part of that canon. Going back to the "cloud rap" and Mishka Era, we're also tied in with a lot of the same people, so I feel like we were the only ones that were able to bridge that generation with the current one, and give you an album like this.
T: AJ has a good range and likes all types of music, and he isn’t a rap traditionalist even though he sounds great on boom-bap. I knew I was gonna have some leeway in crafting the sound because of that. His style is super potent but also very subtle. I think I took it as a challenge a bit, because I hadn’t been making hip-hop for a while. I felt a little rusty. But AJ felt like the perfect artist to work with to bring this sound out of me.
For multiple reasons, I love how Suede touched on bridging the gap between the past generation and the current one. One reason is that it is plainly wild to come to grips with the fact that this cloud rap era around the turn of the last decade, is actually old enough now to be considered old… especially as someone who was in high school during this time.
The second reason though is that this comment is absolutely spot on, since the aesthetics that cloud rap embodied were very specific, and in my opinion, rarely captured in the rap music that came after it. The sound was primarily characterized by hazy atmospheric textures that led to it being named “cloud rap” in the first place, which certainly is a characteristic of some of the current moody trap music that’s being made. However, it also had a few other distinct qualities, such as a particular liking for melancholy haunting vocals that blended in with the beat, as if they were instruments themselves, and deep cavernous drum and basslines that envelop the listener in a metaphorical cloud of smoke.
Some of the biggest names in this space were Clams Casino (see an example of his trademark sound with “Angels” by Mac Miller here), who was the most popular poster-child for this sound. However, other vital artists in this space were none other than Televangel/Young God and Blue Sky Black Death, whose music largely featured these same characteristics along with a more electronic downtempo flavour to it too.
Televangel’s versatility as a producer, and Suede’s range as Televangel put it, is a key reason why Metatron’s Cube succeeds. Suede’s ability to dominate a variety of different moods and sounds gave Televangel the green light to bring the production to ingenious places that he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to with a lesser MC.
2) [For AJ Suede] I did some rudimentary research on the meaning of “Metatron’s Cube”, and read that it’s a spiritual object that allows one to convert negative thoughts into positive ones. How does this concept relate to the album’s messages and themes?
AJ: Metatron's Cube is the shape that all geometric shapes come from in sacred geometry. I think that's a good metaphor for me as a rapper, and Televangel as a producer. A lot of different types of beats, eras and influences are represented on the album. The Metatron is an archangel that is known for being the voice and scribe of God, because God's true voice is too powerful. In addition to that, cube worship is at an all-time high right now, ESPECIALLY going into web3. So the album kind of attacks that at all angles. The shape that all shapes come from, the voice and scribe of God, and on songs like “Vox Machina” playing with the theme of cube worship.
Suede is such a thoughtful individual that it almost seems redundant to state. But yes, AJ Suede is smart. His heady perspectives illuminate the foggy darkness of Televangel’s beats with a powerful calm. AJ certainly embodies this role of an “archangel”, delivering wisdom all throughout Metatron’s Cube.
A great lyrical moment is on “Cracked”, where Suede delivers some very thoughtful perspective on taking risks and pushing yourself to positions of discomfort, in order to find real satisfaction and success. It’s motivational and personally resonates with me, as I find myself at a point in my life where I’m battling with these thoughts that I’m wasting my life, and not living it to the fullest.
“Terror” showcases Suede’s ability to be esoteric, clever, and smooth all at once with bars such as:
“Post traumatic stress in your heart slowly eating you/system got you down but the Suede God believes in you”
“Products of environment, quotients of retirement/sum of all fears when the privacy they minusing”
- AJ Suede, “Terror”
The way Suede effortlessly plays with syllables, and lyrical concepts here are just fantastic. That mathematical scheme in that second excerpt is INSANE. He generally has a lot of sneaky punchlines that may rely on a reference that you may not initially catch, such as this genius bar from “Rubies”:
“You got no heart, but you’re singing Barracuda”
- AJ Suede, “Rubies”
Although the concept behind Metatron’s Cube is quite abstract and outside of people’s typical areas of expertise, Suede does a great job of making every thought of his very clear and simple to understand. The overarching context surrounding his worldview may not be something you feel is all that tangible or relatable, but what he actually says in practice will certainly resonate with most people who have a certain level of awareness, both internally and externally.
It is precisely AJ Suede’s clarity in his lyricism that makes his ideas stick to the listener, versus other potentially like-minded rappers who lack the ability to be as succinct in their raps, leading to music that fails to make a true impact. As I alluded to in my ‘Plugged In’ write-up for his last album, Avada Kedavra, the clarity in Suede’s vocal delivery helps accentuate the clarity found in his actual lyrical content as well.
“5 x 10” is a razor-sharp final lap to this album, giving us a short dose of lyrical genius to cap off the record. It’s in these moments that the power of Suede’s stoic delivery reveals itself, as the calm unbothered confidence is paired with lyricism like this. I cannot stress this point enough. Confidence matters. It matters when communicating in life, and sure as hell matters when you’re trying to make an impression while rapping. “5 x 10” is quite possibly the definitive performance of AJ Suede’s entire career.
Although I’ve always been impressed with AJ Suede as a rapper, on Metatron’s Cube he sounds like he’s floating on a new frequency. His flows are so confident, and his thoughts have never been so sharp.
3) [For Televangel] The soundscape of this album is so serene, atmospheric, and heavy. Could you illustrate what your vision was for constructing the sound of this album?
T: The vision wasn’t immediately there. We started this album a couple of years ago. I would send him a batch of beats here and there, and it took a minute to get the rhythm. I think it really clicked when we decided that we’d finish the project in my studio together, and that put the pressure on both of us. I think for anyone that’s followed my music for a while might describe my sound in the terms that you did, but I don’t think they were expecting the marriage with a more boom-bap sound, because I haven’t been making that type of music for a long time. Working with AJ was the perfect invitation to remind people that I can really make hip-hop beats too, and it definitely re-ignited my passion for it.
I really felt like I could do all sorts of styles with AJ, because his catalog is very diverse, like mine. But I wanted to merge the “Televangel” sound with a more grimy hip-hop sound. One thing I was really setting out to do with the sound was make it a clean dirtiness, if that makes sense. I wanted it very warm, and the drums to be thick but not overpowering. Highs turned down a bit. Also, just wanted to surprise people a little bit. Some of these tracks I switched out the beats, because I always feel like I make my best stuff in post-production, after vocals have been recorded. AJ has a really stoic delivery that lends itself to all kinds of different tracks. He sounds hard over a more emotive beat, but then sounds right at home on a more straightforward hip-hop beat. The more tracks I finished, the easier it was to see the whole ‘picture’ in my head.
The one rapper-one producer collaborative format has slowly but surely become a staple in modern hip-hop. It’s typically my preferred structure for a rap album because it lends itself well to ‘world-building’. When there is just one producer at the helm working with a rapper, the likelihood that a cohesive and clear vision takes form with an album increases tremendously, in my opinion. This format allows producers to flex certain skills that only come into play when producing a full body of work, serving as the ultimate showcase of production. It has the potential for producers to push their sound into new territories, much like Televangel did on Metatron’s Cube.
As I described earlier, the trademark characteristics of this prototypical cloud rap sound, and the sound that we grew accustomed to with Televangel and Blue Sky Black Death, did not include strong boom-bap style influences. That is why Metatron’s Cube is such a unique sounding record. It marries the ethereal and the grimy so well - aka, a clean dirtiness as Televangel so perfectly put it.
One of the strongest musical elements of this album are the drums. They are punchy, with heavy basslines, that mix with the brooding thick atmosphere so well. It’s so interesting that Televangel mentioned this particular detail on the higher frequencies being turned down. That is a crucial reason why the whole album feels so warm and inviting throughout, even if the majority of the sounds are quite gray and moody.
“Elysium” showcases the strong boom-bap style drums used to great effect, along with the infectious swing found in the groove on “Vox Machina”, and the driving drums of “Respect the Architect” too that were absolutely killer. The tambourine on “Watch Out” is terrific ear-candy.
As for the tender ethereal moments in this album’s sound, they are not as overtly presented as on Televangel’s solo work, or his work as part of Blue Sky Black Death. However, they are still present in the details. “3 Hours Late” features an incredibly manipulated vocal sample that repeatedly cries “please love me”, instantly striking a strong emotional chord within me.
A final element of this album that needs a mention, is that the songwriting present in these hooks and flows delivered by AJ Suede are top-tier. The catchiness in these hooks is a hugely improved aspect found in Suede’s performance on this album, which is really nice to see. This improved ability to know what a song may need aesthetically translates to these well-chosen feature placements too.
Mr. Muthaphuckin eXquire’s spot on “Respect the Architect” is a home run, reminding me for the 834th time that the world desperately needs another studio album from eXquire! On “Watch Out”, PremRock’s performance is likely my feature of the year so far in 2022. It is that good, rocking an insane opening handful of bars that rivals some of the best I’ve ever heard (check out my interview with PremRock here).
Overall, Metatron’s Cube feels like a brand new take on cloud rap. Televangel carefully curated the sound of this album, giving the record a nice ebb and flow without sacrificing an ounce of cohesion. The album sounds like Suede’s flow does… it so smoothly takes you to different places in as natural a manner possible.
Metatron’s Cube is one of those rare times where both the aesthetic and non-aesthetic elements of a record, so greatly align and complement each other. The atmospheric textures of Televangel’s bring you to a spiritual place, and Suede’s thought-provoking lyricism and sure-handed rapping keep you there. The creative synergy between the two makes Metatron’s Cube a sure-fire album of the year candidate in 2022.
Buy Metatron’s Cube here and stream below.
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