Ravenis her first album in nearly six years.The wait was intentional.
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Raven, her new album and first in six years, presents something further afield.
Kelelas voice is now almost indistinguishable from the sound.
The inhumane demands of the industry bearing down for years couldve stifled her.
Its been nearly six years since your last album.
How are you feeling aboutRaven?Honestly, Im very excited.
There are so many rules of engagement that just didnt apply in a different era.
I have done my best to share in a way that feels natural for me.
Obviously, I have to make a living, and theres constraints there.
I wanna be able to stand my ground on both of those without losing security.
And so I have definitely had to move courageously in that.
Not to be this bot thats just like producing constantly.
Im not saying that on some guru shit; Im just getting that now through this experience.
Thats kinda what Im seeing play out right now.
And its a very delicious feeling.
I remember seeing those types of tweets.
And that is an immense amount of faith that I think stands apart.
Its almost like they knew it was gonna hit.
Im not saying that people cant make things that have a lot of depth quickly.
I am just not one of those people.
Your first three projects,Cut 4 Me,Hallucinogen, andTake Me Apartfeel like breakup records.
Is that accurate?I would say the first two for sure.
Its not givingfullbreakup, but definitely we about to be on our way out.
OnRaven, the breakup feels more communal.
There is that feeling of isolation but then of something being severed.
Did you sense you were personally breaking from something as you were making it?Its weird.
Its been a constant.
On this record, I didnt consciously say,This is what Im gonna talk about.
I never approach it this way.
Im thinking about the sound of this instrumental, quite literally.
Its a muscle Ive explored.
Like Holier, for example.
I dont know who Im talking to.
But the lyrics came so naturally.
Thats why its hard for me to describe my intention when I was making it.
I look back and I be like, Id rather be holier.
Thats what I keep saying, but I feel crazy saying that.
Like, who the fuck do I think I am?
I would never colloquially say that just talking to a person.
There are moments where its almost like my mouth is moving in response to the sound of the thing.
And I am finding out after what Im even speaking to.
Something similar happened with Raven.
Say more.Thats what Im confronting throughout, like, when its romantic, even when its a sweet song.
Thats basically a theme that I know is running throughout.
I was having a hard time standing by that.
And I think a lot of Black femmes will feel me on this.
When youre being intimate with a man, just a feeling of having to push the person.
At least for me, I am that courageous person in the relationship.
Your response also reminded me of writers like Gwendolyn Brooks or M. NourbeSe Philip, who are guided.
Their art reflects back to them what is going on.Actually, thats what it is.
Thats what youre looking at.
I would say you are looking at me looking in the mirror.
Like thewater!Thats where the water comes in as well.
I knew when I heard that synth on Raven, I was like,This is the title track.
Im not sure what Im saying, but I do know that its gonna be like this.
And when I went to write it, I originally said, A phoenix is reborn.
Thats the typical narrative.
And thats what it meant for me.
I was like,Yeah, you thought she was taken out, but a bitch is back.
Afterward, I was like,I cant use phoenix cause thats just played the fuck out.
Were done with phoenix.
Then I just started Googling different birds; the second one I Googled was raven.
And I was like,Period.
And then I looked at the meaning, symbolism.
So I thought that was really deep.
The artwork, the sound of this album I think a lot of people would say its darker.
And maybe, topically, people would receive that sadness.
Yet its symbolism is complex.
It says that, as a talking bird, the raven also represents prophecy and insight.
Ravens and stories often act as psychopomps connecting the material world with the world of spirits.
It gives you a house to feel it in.
Theres a filter.You know we can connect on something.
I just know I can connect with you.
Its a value system.
Basically, I want it to feel like a whirlwind.
Or like a slide.
When youre on a water slide, it gets dark at a period right before it spits you out.
Thats basically what I wanted the fall into Bruises to feel like.
Then theres this new beginning where youre giving birth to yourself or youre being reborn.
It feels kind of like passing through a pretty traumatic chute but also a delicious one.
Theres a boundary setting on this record.
Ive always led with tenderness and vulnerability.
Those are staples I would say on this record.
But Im also setting boundaries in a way that Ive never set them.
And thats for real life and also for song life.
I wanted to ask you about this because you did bring up the club.
Like, do you be going to the club?Absolutely.[Laughs]Absolutely.
I dont think the album would hit in that way if I wasnt going to the club.
Its such a sight for me.
I dont know how to explain it.
Like, the bedroom, the car, the club.
Thats where youll find me.
Im trying to think of other contexts like on top of a mountain.
On a boat, maybe.
We have seen you on a boat now.Yeah, its giving modes of transport.
The last five years of dance music has been fascinating.
Weve seen a dilution of popular white male DJs and I think were seeing more queer and trans DJs.
Were changing the records.
On the one hand, it was like the era of left-of-center music, indie music.
It was mostly giving indie white boy bands …
I definitely have references of artists and people who were doing their thing.
Like, innovative Black underground artists.
It was very segregated.
Like, when Little Dragon started touring in the United States, their first audiences were completely Black.
I remember at one point it was just, like, me, SZA, and twigs.
As time passed, it felt like this pocket had expanded.
Even whenTake Apartcame out, it did not feel like that was fully what was going on.
And even myremix projects I felt like there was nobody doing remix projects.
Lets talk about that.
Right after, it was a standard move that everyone is making after they make an original album.
Now everybody gets a Jersey Club remix.
That was the purpose of the remix project, to be honest.
It was to make note that these people exist and that this culture exists.
That it doesnt just have to exist in this underground way.
It feels like that gray area between gatekeeping and allowing everybody to do your shit, right?
Of saying like,No, niggas did this.Exactly.
This is niggas, and dont ever get it twisted.
Its like 22 tracks.
Like, aint nobody gonna be like, Dont put that on there.
And it was just like everybody else is Black or brown.
The purpose is to uplift the most marginalized and talented at the same time.
Cus its us they want!Yeah.
Like, you crave this culture, you crave this sound, we know it.
Then you want it more.
Well do it again with more people on this next project.
Thats the kind of legacy I wanna create.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated a Kelela quote about the white gaze.
It has since been updated.
