Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
For the first time, I feel myself growing older, Abstract sings in the shimmering, devastating Voyager.
Maturity means making more focused art and seeking less attention.
There were guitars in the mix on your first two solo records, butBlanketis a full-fledged rock album.
What brought that about?It happened naturally.
I finally did something that Im beyond proud of.
I kept saying early on that I wanted to make my punk version offolklore.
What have you been listening to lately?A lot of current rap, some classical music.
A lot of stuff I listened to growing up: Sunny Day Real Estate, Modest Mouse.
In a lot of rap, theres so much space.
You hear one line over and over, and its hypnotizing and kind of psychedelic.
I thought itd be cool to do that with these sonics and this whispering vocal style.
So its just in my soul and in my DNA to naturally like those kinds of chords.
I think thats why I like Alexs music so much.
Ive been a fan since living in Texas, before we put out any of theSaturationstuff.
On this one, I didnt really want to do that.
Lets talk about those last two Brockhampton albums.
How did that go for you?People hated me.
But I think it will be appreciated later down the line.
What were the conversations about makingThe Familylike?They were easy because everyone was pretty much over it.
Like, All right, cool.
I think they felt betrayed by it, but we were just fully off it at that point.
No one wanted to do another album, basically.
Everything I say onThe Familysums up how everyone felt about our decision to do that.
It wasnt just mine.
It was me and a few other members.
Did you really make that album to wrap up a deal?A thousand percent.
Before that, you became a consultant onEuphoria.
Does that look cool?
Im like, Yeah, its cool.
All the actors are great.
Im around all these new Hollywood people.
Its crazy energy to be around.
I sent it to Sam, and he liked it and asked me to be a consultant.
I saw a bunch of cool stuff I never experienced before because of that opportunity.
Truthfully, all I want to do is make movies, TV shows, and commercials.
I venture to take advantage of the chance whenever Im rolling out my own music.
World building making an experience for people is my favorite.
Its equally as important as the music.
The music is just a piece of that for me.
I heard you met Drake.I met Drake throughEuphoria.
I mean, I didnt reallymeethim.
Right before lockdown, I was at a table read, and there was a lot of food.
He said, Of course, man.
Im very patient with it right now.
Im not desperate for the attention.
Im not in a hurry to get there.
How was writing lyrics without a group to bounce ideas off of?It was hard.
But once I broke through, it was incredible.
I need to be pushing myself more.
It showed me how I was slacking in the past, relying on others too much.
Its no cakewalk getting upwards of half a dozen people on the same page for anything, though.
Like, We dont even need my verse.
We dont need my part.
Its tricky when you have the sensibilities that I have, I guess.
Its challenging when you want to be the biggest artist in the world.
You want to make waves, but you also want to blend in.
He said, double-check youre comfortable singing this song for the rest of your career.
He was really leaning on me like, What are your instincts telling you to do?
It is a really weird pocket that that album is in.
Looking back, I wish I understood my intentions a little more.
I was around Taylor for a second with him.
That was cool, like meeting the president or something.
The music that I was trying to make …
I didnt know if it should feel as clear as those songs.
It should be a little bit more like where Im at right here.
What I was trying to do initially with Kid Harpoon and Tyler was just a little cleaner.
I wouldnt have been able to writeBlanketand be comfortable with standing on it if not for those early sessions.
Im raising our unreleased project ticker to one.
I made sure I didnt make any false promises this rollout.
Youre a polarizing figure in your own fandom.Usually Im loud on Twitter, saying a bunch of nonsense.
Im always going to love that, but I just really wanted to make it about the music.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
