The newest release from Klassik is a cautionary message.
It’s one we’ve all heard before, but here, it’s clear some of us need to be reminded about karma.
In “All Comes Back” he warns “…you can run, you can hide, but in time your hand will show.”
The visuals, mostly in black and white, are simple yet crisp.
Klassik sings lessons from the beach, reflecting on past dealings with inauthentic people. He’s also using his words to motivate others to turn inward and be honest — not just for others, but for the betterment of themselves.
Cliché as it may sound, as we enter the new year, integrity and “being real” is something we should all work towards.
“All Comes Back” is the first single off Klassik’s upcoming project Working Klass..
Watch the video below and check out our Q & A with one of the fixtures in Milwaukee’s music scene.
HYFIN: What, if anything, in your personal life sparked “All Comes Back”?
Klassik: To be quite honest, I think that my experiences moving closer within the music industry a few years back and really pulling back the curtain on a lot of folks’ unclear intentions and lack of passion and follow-through prompted this record. I am someone who values, and even requires, a certain level of authenticity and integrity that I have discovered is increasingly harder to come by, and [it’s] therefore imperative that I stress the importance once more of cutting through the “noise.” Watching the charades that we play with one another, masking our true feelings and intentions for the appearance of “having it all together”. I am an observer of the world and energy at large, and the work that it takes to maintain these facades is so detrimental to our peace and prosperity.
TL;DR: playing someone else’s game, from my experiences and observations, is the number one way to play yourself and not be true to yourself.
I read this song is part of a new, larger project. What are the details of the new album?
The new album is called Working Klass. This album energetically and topically really picks up right where my last album “QUIET.” left off (quite literally because I began this album process with “All Comes Back” almost two years ago in January of 2020). There is no official release date, but as it stands there are 10 songs on this album, most of which I’ve had written and demoed for a couple years as well. I take A LOT of time with my projects because I have always believed that this level of care is what’s necessary to create lasting, impactful art. Originally this album was titled “AND” (a nod to my belief that life is much less about “either/or”, and much more so “both/and”), and then for a long time had the working title of “MasterKlass.” With the raging popularity of the MasterClass series during the pandemic, I eventually landed on Working Klass. after months with no title, wanting to ensure that the themes of this album did not get lost in something familiar yet unrelated.
What has inspired you lately?
I think that my inspiration lies where it always has, and that is in the uncomfortable gray area between awe/wonder, and fear/horror. I had a revelation a few years back that those sensations are really two sides of the same coin, and that with a willingness and courage to reframe and keep that in perspective, we allow ourselves to remain in a space of healthy curiosity, instead of our innate desires to shrink away from the uncertain and uncomfortable, thereby often leaving ourselves stuck. What has me inspired more than ever is the abandoning of the seeking of a life of comfort, and rather seeking a life of growth and expansion, and having the faith that the comforts from pursuing these pure things will be far greater than I could ever imagine for myself. For me, that is the “work” of Working Klass. and just life in general; the inner work, the personal growth that we must all invest into if we are ever to have any hopes of changing the world for the better. It starts with the work inside. The work of accountability and honesty; the work of the genuine, passionate, and brave.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I simply want to encourage everyone; artists and creatives and hospital workers and teachers and sanitation workers and everyone in between…everyone, the time is now to do the work. Do the thing that scares you. Don’t put it off. We owe it to ourselves, because if we are not TRUE to ourselves, we cannot TRULY contribute anything to this world. The first part of the work is the inner, but to complete the work, you must cultivate your words and entire being into a vessel and conduit for the truths you uncover. Contribute more of that truth to the human experience, and watch what happens. I sincerely hope that the themes and intentions of this next album do just that.
Elizabeth Eden Harris, known professionally as Cupcakke, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her hypersexualised, brazen, and often comical persona
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Elizabeth Eden Harris, known professionally as Cupcakke, is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her hypersexualised, brazen, and often comical persona and music although she has also made songs with themes supporting LGBTQ rights, female empowerment, and autism awareness.
Acclaimed GRAMMY-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello makes her Blue Note Records debut with the June 16 release of The Omnichord Real Book, a visionary
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Acclaimed GRAMMY-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello makes her Blue Note Records debut with the June 16 release of The Omnichord Real Book, a visionary and deeply jazz-influenced album that marks the start of a new chapter in her trailblazing career. Following her 2018 covers album Ventriloquism, Meshell returns with an album of new original material that taps into a broad spectrum of her musical roots. The Omnichord Real Book was produced by Josh Johnson and features a wide range of guest artists including Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Joel Ross, Jeff Parker, Brandee Younger, Julius Rodriguez, Mark Guiliana, Cory Henry, Joan As Police Woman, Thandiswa, and others.
The Omnichord Real Book is introduced today by the expansive lead single “Virgo,” the mind-altering 8-minute centerpiece of the album which features Meshell on vocals, key bass, and keyboards, Younger on harp, Rodriguez on Farfisa organ, Chris Bruce on guitar, Jebin Bruni on keyboards, drums by Abe Rounds, Deantoni Parks, and Andrya Ambro, and additional vocals by Kenita Miller and Marsha DeBoe. The Omnichord Real Book is available for pre-order now on Blue Note Store exclusive color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital.
“It’s a little bit of all of me, my travels, my life,” says Meshell. “My first record I made at 22, and it’s over 30 years from then, so I have a lot of stored information to share.” Reflecting on the impact that the forced stillness of the pandemic lockdown had on her, she says “I must admit it was a beautiful time for me. I got to really sit and reacquaint myself with music. Music is a gift.”
“This album is about the way we see old things in new ways,” Meshell explains. “Everything moved so quickly when my parents died. Changed my view of everything and myself in the blink of an eye. As I sifted through the remains of their life together, I found my first Real Book, the one my father gave me. I took their records, the ones I grew up hearing, learning, remembering. My mother gifted me with her ache, I carry the melancholy that defined her experience and, in turn, my experience of this thing called life calls me to disappear into my imagination and to hear the music.”