Kat Says: “Oh, For Art’s Sake!”
‘Tis the season of Spotify Wrapped, and I give thanks to the artists who create from the heart—algorithm be damned.
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Hey Friends,
Long time no see! What you been up to, huh?
I had one hell of a November. Firstly, I turned 36. Thank you for the birthday wishes. (If you’d like to give me a gift, you can sign up for the paid tier of this newsletter as a means of support for this project, and Kat Calls, my YouTube page and all the fun stuff I put together for free <3)
The day after my birthday, I flew to Pennsylvania to see family. My baby cousin Katelynn is all grown up and having a baby of her own, and I was able to be there for her baby shower. Then my maternal grandmother, Gammie, turned 79! And I got to be there for that, too :)
Then I drove 16 hours back to Florida in ONE DAY with my aunt Debbie, THEN I got on a flight to New York City and had one of the best damn Big Apple trips of my life. Those four days were incredibly inspiring, and I’ll share as much about that as I can—but then it was back to Florida for Thanksgiving week, and then I fell so fucking sick over the last seven days that I lost my sense of smell and went through an entire family-size box of tissues in a weekend.
So, yeah. That’s why you didn’t get a newsletter in your inbox—until now.
Me in NYC
I never stopped thinking about you, and I never stopped musing about music and the big questions. Mostly, I spent November feeling enamored by artists; the true artists, the ones who put themselves out there by creating exactly what is in their hearts, who then dare to share that with the world.
My trip to NYC was all about that. I went to sit in on an album listening session, and while it’s too early to tell you specifically whose album it was, I will tell you that this album was so deliciously cut of its own cloth—so precise and brooding and textural and theatrical and heavy and psychedelic and dark—that it could only have come from the artists who made it—even though it kind of sounded like nothing I’d heard from them before.
Hearing it on the gorgeous sound system in that room was a treat I won’t ever forget in my life, and I have a handful of months to get my home sound system in order so that I can even come close to reliving that experience when the album drops. It will certainly be my favorite album of 2024, and I will 100 percent spend half the year writing about it, and the tour to follow.
I’m sure to be truly insufferable about it.
You have been warned.
I left that listening session feeling so thankful to the album’s artists; thankful that they’re the type of creators who honestly don’t give a fuck about what might be expected of them. Because, if they did care or held themselves up against the sounds of their peers or even their previous selves, they wouldn’t be the artists that I love. They would be, simply, something else; and sure, they’d probably still be good and I’d say even very good, but they wouldn’t be them. They wouldn’t have made that.
This was my view when listening to the album. Cool story, bro.
It was on that trip that I started obsessing about this concept: the idea of art for art’s sake. I can’t stop thinking about it and seeking it out; people who create not just from a place of entertainment and expression, but from a cavern of deep gnawing.
Being an artist is not a choice. It is an inevitability. We’re all born artists, though many of us are cruelly convinced in early childhood that we are not. Too many of us put down our little creative pursuits for fear of not being “good at it,” or maybe, and even more honestly, for the fear of being too seen.
The definition of art is always debatable, but I’ve long held on to the belief that “art” is any creation that makes the consumer feel any thing. Entertainment is fun, and some entertainment is art, but not all art is entertaining.
Sometimes art makes us uncomfortable. Sometimes it makes us cry. Sometimes it makes us laugh, or dance, or remember an oddly specific moment from the seventh grade when we made our friend Amanda laugh so hard that spaghetti came out of her nose (okay, that’s my specific moment. You’ll have to take a beat and think of your own).
Art is a piece of a person shared so truthfully and without fear that it becomes a mirror within which we see a piece of ourselves. That, I believe, is the most beautiful thing a piece of art can do, because it gives the viewer some reassurance that, no, they’re not alone in that experience. Yes, other people feel that way or think that way or have been in that way, too.
It’s so easy to get caught up in your own head and think you must be so weird, so ashamed, so quiet. Art comes along and tells us, “Hey, you’re not weird. That’s normal! We all do it! You’re with your people now. We’re all around you.”
I talked about this a bit with San Holo during last week’s Kat Calls. We spoke deeply about his incredible new album and ongoing tour Existential Dance Music, mental health, his favorite guitars and even got to hear a snippet of his unfiltered Dutch accent, but mostly we talked about his very visceral urge to express the things he experiences in hopes of finding things people can relate to.
“Connectedness,” he says, “that’s what I’ve always been [seeking]. I love making a song and thinking, ‘Oh, someone out there might connect to this; someone in China, someone in New York, someone in my hometown. Someone is going to listen to this and feel something, and that is just a beautiful connection.
I feel seen by them too, and that’s why it has to be personal, because if it’s not personal, then that whole chemistry that the listener and the creator have is based on—if it’s not personal, what am I doing it for?”
“When people come up to me and say, “Hey, thank you. You’ve really helped me in this dark period in my life,’ it’s very mutual,” San continues. “It’s really important for me to have a personal connection to the people I work with as well. That’s why it’s hard for me, because I know the industry works. Sometimes you get sent a vocal… and I’m like, it’s great, but I don’t know this person, I don’t know anything about their life. How can I make this mine? I need to have a conversation. I need to talk about life with this person.
“It has to be personal, and it’s a blessing and a curse, because it definitely hinders me from selling out.”
Speaking of artists who refuse to sell out, DJ Craze released a new routine video in November, too. He’s a three-time back-to-back world champion DJ, widely regarded as the best battle DJ to ever touch decks. This latest clip, titled Tablism, is a love letter to the art form. It cements him as a G.O.A.T. among men, and it beautifully touches upon the theme of this essay.
In true tablist fashion, Craze uses clips of others speaking (pretty sure it’s mostly Kendrick Lamar, but I’ll confirm that later).
“The first idea is me coming to grips with what I’m feeling,” the voiceover says. “I just sit and live with it until I’m able to reach that point of—a whole nother level.”
“This is culture,” the voice continues. “It’s not something you can just play with, and if you’re not doing it to be the best you can be, what are we doing here?”
I’m going to speak with Craze later this week for Spin, and I’ll get to hear even more about his take on this theme, and I’m so looking forward to it, because Craze has always been a champion for the true artists and never shies away from giving his two cents on the state of culture. I’m so so thankful to him for being his fullest self, on and off the record, and I know it’s a conversation I’ll walk away from feeling inspired.
As Craze’s voiceover notes, culture is an ongoing conversation. We stand and create on the shoulders of all who come before us, motivated by their truth to share our own, adding to the collective cause of answering life’s biggest questions, building true community one perspective at a time.
That is the part of your musical year that can’t be captured in a data pull. Spotify Wrapped told me I listened to its platform for 20,666 minutes in 2023. It reminded me how much I loved reliving the music of my teenage years, how much comfort I sought in the sounds of my past, but the emotions those songs elicited weren’t captured in passive listens. They were written in the digital pages of this newsletter, felt not in a vacuum but shared straight to your inbox, and some of you came back to me from across the void and told me you felt it, too, and that’s been the most beautiful part of my year, every time.
Thank you so much for reading and being a part of my year. Thank you to the artists who, try as they might, just can’t get themselves to stop injecting every ounce of their creations with truth and love, or weirdness and inanity, or hard fucking breakbeats, whatever felt right.
Thank you to 2023 for being a right fuckin’ banger. I hope I never have to have knee surgery again, hahahahaha.
Coming Up
No, this is not my last newsletter of the year. I will be back with a recap of my favorite stories and interviews from the past 12 months, and my favorite songs of the year :)
I’m also finally, FINALLY, sharing a new podcast this week, so join the paid subscription tier if you’re not already a member, in order to gain access to that.
Alsooooo, I should be coming this Thursday with another Kat Calls. I’m double-triple checking those details, and once it’s fully confirmed, I’ll share the info. Stay tuned.
Absolutely Necessary
(This is the part where I share songs that are so good, they’re absolutely necessary to listen to. That’s it. That’s the bar.)
I made two Spotify playlists for this section that you can follow: one weekly playlist updated with just the new stuff every week, and one cumulative playlist that will host every song I pick ever (until Spotify tells me it's full). Check them out! I made them for you—and me, but mostly you.
Here are this week’s five highlights:
Tiga, Hudson Mohawk - “TR Smooth”
Another single from Tiga and Hudson Mohawk’s collaborative album L’Ecstasy, something about the synthesizer chords and playful melody reminds me of the Tenchi Muyo OST, and I am a sucker for any song that reminds me of that part of my childhood. This is one beautiful little, upbeat, melancholy tune. Top-notch listen.
Lamorn - “She Is Home”
One of my guests this year on Kat Calls, Lamorn just blows me away with every consecutive release. It was such a pleasure getting to know this young man better during the chat, and I got to know his girlfriend Molly Otto better because of it, too, and I’d like to imagine Molly is the “she” in this instance, who is home! If you like melodic filter house, you’re going to fucking love this.
Apashe - “King” Feat. Busta Rhymes
When I heard Busta Rhymes’ booming vocals come crashing through Apashe’s signature orchestral majesty, I just about split my wig. Look, that’s not why I recently shaved my head, but it is good enough to make you wanna do something crazy like that—not that it’s crazy for me, lol.
Blood Orchid - “Goodbye”
Niko has been an incredible creative in the Miami scene for more than a decade, and I’ve been following his journey for just as long. His latest project Blood Orchid is gothabilly brilliance for the TikTok-addled era. The warbly guitar wail? The disaffected vocal yawn? Everything about this hits, and I’m so proud of him!
Durante - “Remedy” Feat. Running Through
Another master of sound who I’ve had the pleasure of watching from youngin’ to global force, Durante is one of those dudes who I know is going to hit me in the feels. He’s really honed in on his ethereal signature, and “Remedy” brings everything I’ve come to love about a good Durante song—cricketing wood block in the distance and all.
Alright, folks! That’s it for this week, unless you subscribe to the paid tier, and then there’s a podcast coming :) What will it be? Tune in to find out!
Thanks for tuning into my newsletter. Listen to the playlists on Spotify. One is updated weekly with all the songs from each edition. The other is cumulative with all the updates ever!