Listen to Bulletproof Soul’s album on all streaming, including Spotify or Youtube
Bulletproof Soul’s Grasping Things at the Root is out now. The Neo-Soul and genre-bending group, BPS (the group’s acronym), features Nyyjerya, Austin Moore-Farrow, DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, Lofty305, Amouranth, Angela Davis, and many other figures. Not only does the sound of Grasping Things at the Root bring something unique but the concept album brings unique stories typically swept under the rug.
The album begins with “The Community”, a track honoring and prioritizing community above all else. Nyyjerya’s final lyrics of the tracks being a firm reference to the album’s purpose. She states, “You’re telling me about your wealth but what your worth is?” The root of the album’s concept is about themes such as dialectical materialism, social conditioning, personal growth, and the quest to succeed under systemic realities and pressures. The album conveys on several occasions that community, solidarity, education, and culture can be solutions to issues such as crime and poverty.
The album’s story arc begins in track 2, “The Homie” where we see a character devolving into trouble with the help of skilled emcee TWENTYN9NE. In track 3, violence ensues with “The Whip”, the group’s first single from the album. “The Whip” is a soulful, dark, Lofi adventure. In track 4, “The Play”, we see a character desperate to improve their material conditions, a track many can relate to in an age with rising inflation, cost of living, and less social safety nets.
By track 5, “The Desire”, the album takes a turn into taking on dating in the modern age. “The Desire” is a sleek, well-produced, and explicit track from Nyyjerya and SLWJMZ. The track is both a pro-LGBTQ and non-binary message while also being part one of modern day romantic cycles, describing lust or desire.
In track 6, “The Relationship”, there is a dichotomy of a relationship between the optimistic vocals from eqobKING and the uncertainty expressed from Kengeta. There is bourgeois interest in the first half of the song, while the second half is more interested in the direction and technical reality of where the relationship is headed. In track 7, “The Split Up”, we find that the character has gone through a break up with a beautifully-arranged falsetto performance from Austin. The track incorporates a host of genres from Neo-Soul, Art Pop, and even Shoegaze.
By track 8, “The I”, there is a twist in that you can realize the album is about everyone in society, and not just a character. Grasping Things at the Root depicts relatable issues within society that most people experience. “The I” focuses on social growth from within portraying a steady, youthful growth in the first half from Nyyjerya’s vocals, and a social, aging growth in the second half from Austin’s. Austin’s vocals emphasize the importance of reading and education with his lyrics, even referencing Huey Newton at a certain point.
From track 9 to 11, we see a final act. In “The Playoff”, we see a final attempt to escape material conditions. Track 10, “The Reasons”, then follows. This track is about life and death, implying that the character may have passed away from their attempt to escape their conditions, likely from an attempt at crime. This is left ambiguous to say that material conditions can cause a great many negative consequences in health, due to a variety of factors. Finally, in their latest single, “The Ascension”, we find a euphoric, ambiguous closing to the album featuring DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ and Nyyjerya. The track implies the character is either dead in heaven, or experiencing near death hallucinations. However, another interpretation the audience could have is that the character escaped their material conditions and ascended into success. The ending of the story arc is left open-to-interpretation for the audience.
The Ascension is also a double-entendre for Bulletproof Soul’s rise within the entertainment industry. Meanwhile, the group and album is also riddled with cultural references from a Midnight Marauders-inspired album cover, to the title being from an Angela Davis quote, the William Morris quote that lines the album’s border, and Bulletproof Soul’s name partially being inspired by the Sade song “Bullet Proof Soul”. The album closes with “The Root”, a Synthwave track produced by Austin, where the root is proposed as culture and community being most important concepts in society that can be solutions to the issueseveryday people face.
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