By now it’s common knowledge my connection to Albert Joo (known by the stage name FLANNEL ALBERT) is quite strong. To see an artist thrive, to grow within themselves, is truly a blessing. It’s unfortunate, then, that this is only our second actual phone conversation.
Naturally, the first order of business is, of course, to check in on him. As I find out later on in our conversation, that’s something he probably needs. Even if he doesn’t realize it at the time.
“How have you been?”
“I’ve been good,” he says. “Kinda same ol’. I’m in LA now, so things are kind of different. Kinda just the up and down life of an artist. Still working the 9-to-5 job. It’s been good.” He pauses for just a moment. “It’s always just a complex question, ‘How have you been?’” That being true, he still inquires about my wellbeing since the last time we spoke on the phone. Many will probably attest that 2019 was a rough year.
“Yeah, it definitely was for me,” Albert admits. “I’d say it was the first year where like I looked back on it and I say, ‘Oh, that was a rough year.’ Usually every year you look back and you’re like, ‘Oh, that was a year.’ But I think this is the first time where I’ve been like, ‘Oh, this was a rough year.’ But I think it gives a lot of hope for 2020. I’m very optimistic about 2020.”
As I’ve been saying since about June, 2019 was the year of transition. Moving into 2020 ready for perfect vision.
“For me it was like a literal transition of me moving from NY to here. Yeah, definitely felt like that. But I think the way things are going for me right now, and the things I’m preparing, I’m hoping for a big 2020.”
Though making the move from Brooklyn to LA was certainly a learning curve, he still managed to keep his job. “That’s why we had to schedule this interview for like 6 pm,” he chuckles. “To make sure I was home from work. Luckily enough I got to transfer. I told my employer, ‘Hey I wanna move to LA, I wanna move out West.’ And I was able to get a transfer. So I didn’t have to look for any job. I just had the same job out here. And it’s as flexible as it was before. It really is a blessing to be able to have done that. So yeah, I’m still working a 9-to-5.”
Time Moves Forward
Albert and I have similar temperaments when it comes to a lot of things. From the mind of two creatives, it’s hard to be 100 percent all-in for keeping a day job. No matter how much of a necessary evil it is.
“I don’t want to be working in an office for the rest of my life, and obviously this music thing is my central focus. But for my current situation being able to have that stability…” He takes in a breath. “Out of all the years since I graduated and I’ve been working, this year’s been the most where I’ve been like, ‘Yo, I just wanna stop working and I just wanna do music full-time.’ It was getting almost unbearable even with the very flexible situation I have.
“That’s something we’ll probably unpack in this interview,” he continues. “But it’s been two years since you last talked to me, and time moves forward. And as time moves forward and you’re pursuing something creative, I think you get more and more impatient. I think that was something I was struggling with a bit this year. So there were times where I was just like, ‘I have it so hard. I have to work a job and do the music stuff, and there are people around me who are just doing the music stuff, and I see what they’re doing and the output they’re creating…’ I really had to count my blessings and think, ‘Well I can afford some luxuries and maybe they can’t. I have financial stability, etc.’ Definitely something to reflect on for me.”
Albert’s Perspective
It’s certainly something one has to balance. The pitfalls and heartaches of having to focus on the daily grind while grinding on what’s really important to you. The moment I realized I couldn’t work in an office again, it was certainly a moment of great joy, but also great struggle. The sacrifices you have to make to ensure you can live as well as be able to do what feeds your soul. It’s a tight rope of experimentation and failures, fighting your fears while unearthing new ones.
“For me,” Albert says, “it was just a matter of perspective. It’s like this past year I felt like I needed to be in a hurry. Just recently, literally a month ago, I’ve been trying to step back a little bit and trying to take things one at a time. Obviously still plan ahead for the future. Still be very forward-thinking, but just like mental health–wise it was very important for me to just start taking things a day at a time. Even in the last couple weeks or so since I’ve been practicing that I think it’s been very helpful.”
It certainly isn’t easy to find that balance of self. How has he managed to keep himself level? “You know what’s funny?” Albert begins. “In preparation for this interview I was reading our past interview. The thing I loved about that interview is that I thought it was very illuminating. It really showed who I was. Kind of explored who I was and where I was in my music career. I look at that now and I remember that version of myself, but it’s crazy to see kind of the growth. Kind of the internal growth and things I’ve experienced. I’m still the same person, but it’s like that’s kind of a past version of myself. So you know, it was just a cool reflective experience.”
What struck me as truly transformative was not so much his reflections on his personal growth. The shift his love of music took between our first interview and this very moment is a revelation.
“To answer your question. I guess to level myself out, back then music was…” These moments he has when he pulls back are truly fascinating. Albert is such a cerebral young man. His words are always measured. Not because he wants to censor or is questioning himself. He desperately wants to express himself honestly, fully. Words are his tools, after all. He’s just as meticulous with them in everyday conversation as he is in his music. Art undeniably imitating life.
My Escape & My Prison
After a few moments Albert begins again. “I was pursuing it as a career, and I still am. But back then it was also a form of therapy. It was something I did to get my mind off stuff, to relax. It was my outlet. There was a period of time this year where it stopped being my outlet and it only served to be a source of stress because I was really looking for ways to make songs that people would like. Or I would get frustrated with songs easily.
“And so for a while there I didn’t have an outlet. I was just really stressed all the time. I was like, ‘I need to find an outlet, something other than music.’ Because music has been my outlet my entire life. So I started reading more.” He lets out a small chuckle, as if to downplay his journey to healing. “I read a lot of books on mental health, self-help. That’s been good. Trying to exercise more.
“And then, just kind of, like, take things one day at a time. Very recently, I’ve been setting aside days where I don’t work on my music that I’m going to release. I just work on music for experiment. So I can put out some weird shit, and I don’t have to judge myself on every single musical decision I’m making. I’m just gonna start something today and see where it goes and really just see that through. If it sounds bad, it doesn’t matter because I’ve been able to get something off my chest. That’s been really helpful. Reading and musical experimentation.”
Living Through the Art
What’s the saying? “If you love something, let it go.” Albert had to abdicate himself of the comfort, the security, maybe even the safety of music. It was choking him. Becoming the very thing he was trying to escape. More than letting it go, he had to let it die. Or at least his former understanding and dependence on it.
“I think the way I’m handling music, the way I want to eventually make it a career, it does need to have that element of stress of urgency. It’s just I’m learning how to balance that a little bit more.”
It is heartbreaking to know that the very thing that was once his solace became his burden. However, one must set fire to aspects of their former self to be reborn even stronger. Albert is living testament that the phoenix isn’t just a myth. It’s a lesson in renewal, of growth.
As someone who lives and breathes art I can attest. Art is your lover and the thing that destroys you the most.
“There’s a saying,” Albert continues. “‘Nobody likes a happy artist.’ Like, damn, like if it’s so bleak… It’s kinda true, but I’m hoping it’s not true because one day I want to be a happy artist. But it’s like in the effort of expressing yourself, if you’re a creative you have to open yourself up to your feelings and open yourself to being vulnerable, and I think sometimes that can fuck you up.
“And there’s also the aspect, especially if you’re a performer, there’s that whole aspect of when you’re a performer, you gotta be on. You gotta put up kind of a facade of yourself. So it’s like sometimes that reconciliation of who you are as a day-to-day person and who you are on stage, or who you present yourself as, that dissonance definitely can be tough for people.”
Albert Joo vs. FLANNEL ALBERT
That is an interesting dynamic to explore. How far removed is Albert Joo from Flannel Albert?
“I mean, I would agree with the fact that I am the same person,” he says. “I feel like I have the same values as a person when I’m up on stage. I have the same attitudes toward life. I have the same attitude toward people. I just feel like I’m a more confident version of myself when I’m up on stage. I feel like I’m in a mode where I want to connect with people.
“We talked about this last time too. We’re both introverts, and as an introvert, I regain my energy a lot from being alone. So it’s like when I’m up on stage, I’m in my extrovert mode, when I have all that confidence. But when I’m off stage I tend to be a little more reserved, a little more quiet. Sometimes I think to myself, ‘Damn, am I just like not… In my day-to-day life, am I not as cool of a person? Am I not as worthy of a person as I am when I’m up on stage?’ You have those questions about yourself. And you know that’s not true, but that’s the kind of dissonance that sort of manifests from having those two versions.
“So I’m the same person,” he reassures me, and perhaps himself. “It’s just like in a vacuum. Like, ‘Oh, I like myself better when I’m up on stage.’ But, like, you can’t be the person like you are on stage all the time. Like… that would be annoying!”
It calls to mind a couple artists known for their, shall we say, extra-enthusiastic on-stage personae. Tyler the Creator comes to mind almost instantly for me. That young man has all this barely contained energy on stage and at times in his interviews.
“But then again, that’s the thing,” Albert says. “You and I, when we see Tyler it’s in interviews, it’s when he’s on stage. I still think that always when you’re interacting with other people, it’s a certain version of yourself. Like I’m being totally real with you right now, but when I’m totally by myself, just like chillin’, I’m probably a little bit different of a person. If I’m in a situation where I don’t know anybody, then I’m a different person. So even with Tyler, we see him in interviews it’s gonna be a little different than what he is day-to-day.”
Mental Health
We’ve only barely scratched the surface of our second interview. It’s apparent we’re on the road to yet another revealing conversation.
“This interview is already so much heavier than it was last year,” he observes. There’s a chuckle in his voice. A rueful thing that’s equal parts amused and resigned. “We’re really just exploring the human mind, the human psyche.”
We do strike a more serious tone. However, it is apropos. Considering the discussion around mental health, particularly in the artistic community, conversations like this, I believe, are incredibly important.
“I think I pay so much attention to it now because it’s like if I move up as an artist and I get bigger and bigger, this shit just becomes harder and harder to handle. To have a good foundation like I do right now in order to save myself later. So yeah, especially in the artistic community, and on top of that if you add fame and money it just gets tougher and tougher I feel.”
This brings to mind the conversation I had earlier in the week with one of Albert’s most frequent collaborators. You all know him as LATE LEE. I simply know him as Joe. We touched in his recent trip to Korea (which you’ll read about soon). Long story short, it was a difficult time for him.
“Not only is discussing mental health, there’s a stigma against it there. But like yeah, I think sometimes especially on the internet toward celebrities, people can be pretty ruthless. It goes both ways, because I think a lot of the K-pop fans in Korea they show so much love on one end of the spectrum. And it goes to the extremes. But then there’s the potential for it to go to the other extreme, when an idol does not do something people approve of. So I think that can be very scary. It’s just not a good combination, I don’t think.”
Back to the Beginning?
If you’ll remember from our first conversation, Albert’s no stranger in Korea. He in fact had a career in the country as an indie musician. With so much time that’s passed, and so much that’s changed as drastically as it has, I wonder if he’d ever want to go back.
“Ummm… I would. I think there was a time, again during our last conversation, where I said I don’t want to be boxed in as a ‘Korean rapper.’ I think it’s kind of true that back then people saw you were an Asian rapper and locked you in as such. I think it happens to a degree now, but I’ve been having this feeling lately where it’s like the music industry has become so globalized that it’s like even if you’re a Korean rapper making Korean hip-hop music in Korean, it has a sound that catches the ear of an American audience or a Brazilian audience. It just has the potential to blow up globally and connect with people on a global level. So I don’t worry about that as much anymore.”
From my small observations of how artists move, a lot of Korean and Korean-American/Korean diaspora artists go to Korea because music from the country is starting to make such a huge cultural and financial impact globally. But Albert’s more of a pragmatic artist. It shows in how calculated he is with both his artistry and his plans to propel himself further in his career.
“I don’t know if I’d ever want to go to Korea, live in Korea, and try to make music in Korea. I’m not that good at Korean, I don’t know if I’d be gaining much by going over there. Just for a bunch of logistical reasons. But if I were to establish myself here [in the States] and be able to take a trip out to Korea to make music with artists out there, 100 percent I’d do it. But just logistically right now, it’s not a prudent choice for me. Unless I got offered like a bunch of money, then maybe. But right now, not really.”
“I don’t like depending on people.”
However, Albert admits there’s still that desire for complete independence that he couldn’t get if he dropped everything and made a move to South Korea.
“Honestly, the other thing is, as an artist, and just as a person in general, I don’t like to depend on other people too much, especially in my creative process. I’ve been trying to become more open about collaborating with people because there used to be a time where even that like, I just wanna do everything by myself. But I don’t like depending on people. I feel like if I went to Korea for the first part of it I’d be forced to depend on people because I wouldn’t really know anybody there, I wouldn’t really know the culture, I wouldn’t really know how things work. I definitely think that could be a detriment to my creative process. And I think that would be discouraging.
“But I try to keep myself open to experiences as much as possible. But yeah, I just wouldn’t want to depend too much on having people do things for me.”
Collaboration is at the heart of music
This openness has lent itself to some incredible collaborative work throughout the year. In fact, I’d argue this is the most I’ve seen Albert work with other artists.
“First of all, just from a purely musical standpoint, I will say that one of my strengths is writing a feature verse. For me, I just love doing that. It gives me 16 bars to just put everything I have into it. Also when I do a feature verse, I already have a jumping-off point. Sometimes the hardest part of a song for me is starting, coming up with something to write about.
“For example, Joe and I collaborated on ‘EY,’ and it’s like he already had the subject matter of the song, he already had the hook. I had a wave to ride on, and I’m really good at jumping into that pocket and taking what they have and then putting my own spin on it. And it always fits well with the songs. So that’s something I sort of pride myself on.
“But honestly, a lot of these collaborations that you saw this year have been because people have been reaching out to me for collaborations. And I don’t mean that in like the, ‘Oh, people reach out to me, blah blah,’” he’s quick to reassure me. “I mean that in a thankful manner. Because again one of the things that’s changed about me in the past year or so is that I’ve met artists that are more extroverted than I am. I see that taking them places and having them meet people. And I see that growing their music careers and growing their creative process.
“It really introduced the fact to me that collaboration is at the heart of music. When music started, people would sing in groups. When people are in a band they play in groups. Being able to embrace that and not be so protective of my own creative process has been eye-opening. You said I’ve worked on a lot of collaborations the last couple. But now there’s even more coming. And I’m trying to consciously reach out to more people to help me flesh out ideas that I’ve been stuck on. That’s something I’m going to continue to do more often.
“Some of the stuff I’ve done and that’s in the vault right now that I’ve collaborated on with other artists I’m very, very proud of. So I’m excited for everyone to hear that.
When Albert Met Jon
One of his more higher profile collaborations was with Singaporean pop star Jon Chua on track “Ready For Ya.”
“Before that it was like a year-long process,” Albert says. “Jon Chua is one of the pioneers of pop music in Singapore. Basically his band, The Sam Willows, there’s four of them, they were really like the first local music acts to become popular in Singapore. A lot of Singapore’s music was imported from the US. Like there wasn’t a strong musical identity. So once they got big, they really kind of paved the way for a lot of Singaporean popular music artists.
“Jon reached out to me on Instagram one day and was just like, ‘Hey, I really liked ‘Asian Glow’. I’ve been listening to your other stuff. I really like your writing style.’ I think his wife, Amanda, ‘Asian Glow’ came up on her playlist and she showed it to him.
“So it was just really out of the blue. And I looked him up and was like, ‘Oh, this guy has a blue checkmark next to his name.’ I see he’s in this band the Sam Willows and I’m like, ‘Oh, the Sam Willows have a Wikipedia page!’ I look at them and I’m like, ‘Whoa, they’re doing numbers!’” The excitement he exudes when he relives the revelation of who he was talking to is palpable. That’s something I’ll never tire of with Albert: his raw emotion. Yes, he’s introverted. However, when he’s in a safe space, there’s such an effervescence about his very existence. It’s understandable why so many artists are drawn to him. He radiates such pure energy.
New Opportunities
“For like the first year or so we were just getting on calls,” he continues. “We were just talking. He has his own record label now in Singapore. He’s doing things beyond just being a performer, right? He’s managing artists and all that. Throughout that process we talked and eventually kinda signed somewhat of a writing deal. So I’m writing songs for some of his artists on his record label, and we wrote [‘Ready For Ya’] together, and I produced it, and then I had the feature verse. Then he came to LA and we shot the video.
“He just through that introduced me to a lot of numbers in the Singaporean scene. I went out to Singapore to do a couple performances, write with some of the artists, and just meet some really super talented people over there.
“So yeah, and that again is just… It put collaboration in a whole new light for me because a lot of the songs I was writing, they weren’t hip hop, they were pop. I did one song that was like, I think you replied to my story, but it was like a New Jack Swing vibe. We were just writing all kinds of different music with all types of different artists that normally I wouldn’t work with. And it was just a really, really cool experience that sort of forced me to extend my mind. Songwriting has always been something I’ve wanted to get into. So it was a really cool opportunity.”
FLANNEL ALBERT x LATE LEE
I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least visit the dynamic that is FLANNEL ALBERT and LATE LEE. It really is something magical when the two of them come together.
“I think at the end of the day… Okay, first of all, Joe and I personality-wise are two different people. He’s always extroverted. Me, I’m kind of more lower energy. But at the end of the day when we get in a room together and we’re making music, we’re both focused on the same things. We take it very seriously. Both very earnest with our creative processes. We’re both really open about it. We’re not really afraid to share ideas and give each other constructive criticism. It’s like anything that happens in this music room, all in an effort to make the best song possible.
“And also as an artist I’ve seen him grow so much. Not just in his writing ability and his rapping ability. But I just did a couple of shows with him for his show when he was supporting Crucial Star, and his onstage presence and his confidence, like all of that has just shot up so much in the year that I’ve known him. Seeing him grow and seeing the numbers that he’s doing and how popular he is, it’s just very encouraging for me to see that.
“The other thing about Joe is that he wants all his homies around him to succeed and be a part of it so much, like you’re almost suspicious of it. You’re like, whoa, how can someone be so generous with that, with all that he has? Seeing him do that and really bringing together people, bringing together artists that otherwise wouldn’t have met each other, that’s been really good.”
Albert Comes Full CIRRRCLE
This leads us to his most recent collaboration with Joe. The two had the chance to work with cross-continental trio CIRRRCLE on track “Talkin to Watashi.”
“That was through Joe,” Albert says. “He’s a CIRRRCLE fan. One of them is Jordan, he lives in LA, and the rest of the group that lives in Japan they were in LA for a couple weeks. We just decided we’d have the session in my apartment, my small one-bedroom apartment. It was like CIRRRCLE, Joe was there, I was there. It got really sweaty in there, but we knocked out that entire song in one session. And it was so casual.
“I remember [Joe] hit me up. He was like, ‘Oh you wanna session with CIRRRCLE?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah I’m down. I’m gonna go get some coffee, and then I’ll be back at my place and we can all meet.’ But then I hit traffic on the way back. So I was a little late on my way back. So I pull up in my parking lot driveway and there’s like four people there. I rolled down the window to my car and was like, ‘Umm, you guys are CIRRRCLE, right? Sorry I’m late, I’m Albert. You guys can follow me into this parking lot.’” I see the image in my head—a random dude pulling up to this trio, two of whom aren’t even from the States, rolling down his window and imploring them to follow him. It instantly gets a laugh out of me. Albert must hear what he says, because his laugh is just as loud. “I just led them to my apartment, and we just had that session. But it was so much fun, it was such an efficient session. Jordan lives in LA, so we kick it with him every once in a while. It was just good to meet such a talented, down-to-earth group.”
Dirty Laundry
This also calls up perhaps Albert’s most prominent collaborative project: Dirty Laundry. His work with Phil Kim, known more commonly by rap persona Filthy the Kid, is some of his most aggressive. There’s so much history between Filthy and Flannel. So much to build off of.
“When you say collaboration, like I don’t even think of Phil as a collaboration. When I think of the stuff we do together it’s like we’re just a unit. It’s not like a feature type deal. It’s just like we’re one unit. And yeah, I guess since the last time we talked I was pretty good friends with Phil, and I’d just met Zach (Han).
“I think it was right after the ‘aok’ video that we talked, right? But then in the months after that music video, Zach, Phil, and I became really, really close. Back in New York you didn’t really see us separated from each other. We were hanging out all the time. Like those are my brothers. That’s one of the things about New York that I miss the most, just having them around. Because we did our creative work together, but at the end of the day we just chilled all the time. And we were all a little weird and into weird stuff, and just extra goofy. So we just got along really, really well.
“Phil and I… I think the kind of prevailing theme is that we don’t get to work together as much as we used to,” Albert laments. “He’s in New York and he has a 9-to-5 as well, and it’s just tough. But ‘Front and Center,’ we’d been sitting on that for a long time. Like we’d just kind of started it. And when he came to visit me in LA, we finished like 80 percent of it in like two, three hours. We were like, we should do this more often, but it gets tough. Phil and Zach, those guys will always be my brothers. I’m trying to get them to move out here. Hopefully, some more Dirty Laundry stuff coming out soon.”
Albert’s Nostalgia
“Whose idea was it to make this infomercial video?” I can’t help but ask. That thing was pure magic!
“I’ll actually take credit for that,” Albert says, a smile coloring his voice. “It was my plan, but the most ridiculous parts of it, like Phil’s little dance and Dan—so Dan is Phil’s roommate—Dan with that weird movement. Yeah, that execution was all them. But I can’t remember how I thought of it.
“We were just thinking of ways to promote the song, and the song has kind of an old-school vibe to it. I was just thinking about those old album commercials and how campy they were. But I was thinking how important they are to kids like us growing up. We saw them all the time. So we were just like, let’s go as all-out and as corny as possible. But that song is so reminiscent of that era. It’s really tongue-in-cheek how corny we’re being. You can’t look super, super serious. You can’t take that song too serious while performing it. So we decided to go the other way and just be as corny as possible. When I saw the first cut, I was laughing my ass off. The faces they were making.”
It’s certainly reminiscent of those old Time Life power ballad commercials featuring Celine Dion and Michael Bolton.
“And like they have the scrolling text, and these different camera angles, and these faces, and sometimes there’s just a random eagle flying across the screen. That’s what we were going for.”
The dynamic between Filthy and Albert is undeniable. I said it in the review of “Front and Center,” and I’ll say it again. Albert’s pen and Filthy’s flow could really result in something truly catastrophic.
“We kind of capitalize on that contrast a lot. We’ve done a lot of poppy-sounding stuff. We also wanna do some straight rap stuff, like we’re definitely exploring what we can do.”
Exploring All Paths
From his work with Jon, Joe, and Filthy, it should be obvious to anyone that he has the range to work with anyone. It’s interesting that so much of his collabos this year have somewhat stayed in a very similar aural aesthetic.
“I think it just happens naturally,” he says. “Similar artists like to collaborate together because they think their sounds would go together well. But I like to open myself up to a challenge. I would be happy to do any genre of music if the person I reach out to or the person that reaches out to me, if I feel like they’re dope.
“So I definitely don’t try to limit myself. There’s obviously some stuff that I think I’d sound better on, right? Like I’m good at the melodic rap shit, or just rapping. Like if they want me to yodel on a country record?” We pause at the prospect. The laugh isn’t far behind. “I don’t know if I’d sound good on that or not, but if it was dope, I would like to play on something like that. Like, I’m a pianist, so I could play piano on something like that.”
I have these ideas of seeing him go completely to the other extreme, as in “savant” or “DON.” Raw. Tough. A sharp edge that slices. Hearing his voice on a clipping track. Or perhaps Brockhampton.
“Funny enough, though,” Albert begins, “I think my sound is starting to move toward that Brockhampton sound just a little bit more. I guess you’ll have to judge from my next few releases.
“I think another thing I’ve kind of thought about over the last two years is I obviously like a lot of the music that’s out right now, and my body of work. But I don’t know if my body of work is super representative of where I want my sound to go or where it is at this moment. I think it’s healthy for it to continue to change.” This bodes incredibly well for his future.
Time to Reflect
I can’t help myself. I’m incredibly proud of this man. It’s not the easiest thing in the world, particularly for artists, to step out of a comfort zone. Especially to reach out to others for help (in any capacity). Albert taking that extra step highlights his incredible growth. It also allows him a moment of genuine reflection as we continue our conversation.
“I can say that all this stuff happened this past year, right? I reflect on it and I’m like, wow. A lot of cool things happened this year that I should be thankful for. It’s like when you have such lofty expectations of yourself, it can be easy to discount all that, and be like, ‘How am I any different than I was a couple years ago?’ That’s where the mental health thing comes into play. I think that’s something a lot of artists struggle with. I talk to my creative friends about it, and they’re like, ‘Yeah… What the fuck are we doing?’ You know what I mean? Like, ‘Why are we sad all the time?’”
Remaining Level
It’s relevant, certainly. In our current social climate, it can be difficult to sift through everything and remain afloat. I’m curious as to how Albert’s managed to do that and come out relatively unscathed by it all. How does he find a way to parse through all the hard stuff to actually see the good?
“I mean, honestly it takes intentional periods where you stop and reflect on your blessings. I recently started going to therapy. I’d done therapy a little bit before when I just graduated college, and I recently started again. But I feel like voicing things out, like even on this phone conversation, voicing it out really, really helps.”
Albert quickly stops his train of thought. “I’m just gonna say this now,” he begins. “This is my plug to get therapy if you can. Obviously it’s not free, but if you can do it, even when things are going well, that’s huge.
“For me,” he continues, “the big thing was this idea of time. There’s a limited amount of time left. Since I was young I’ve had pretty lofty professional and academic expectations from my parents. So there was always this idea that I had to be in an established career by the time I was 30. By the time I’m 30, like you gotta settle down, be ready to have a family, blah blah blah. Be making that money.
“And for me, even though I had decided to take on the path of music, remnants of that still existed. I was like, I have to be making good money from music by the time I’m 30 or else, what am I gonna do with my life? I gotta quit making music and then think about a family and a future. But where am I gonna get my money? Like, I was still in the same position at work, but I was still doing music… “I was setting this time limit on myself that was stressing me out. And sure I would still like to have that happen. But to keep reminding myself of that every single fuckin’ day, it’s counterproductive.
“When you sort of stop thinking about that and rather than thinking about that problem, start thinking about the solution, then I think it gets easier. And it allows you to take things one day at a time.”
It’s okay to be normal
These kind of conversations are long overdue in our society. While certainly still complicated and nuanced, artists especially should feel comfortable taking the helm in the overall discussion surrounding mental health. The creative mind is fertile. It can only bear fruit when tended to with care and with respect to the world around it.
“I think at the heart of it, that is one of the reasons I would like to become an artist that’s recognized all around the world,” Albert reveals. “There’s just too many cool artists these days who are just cool in every facet of their lives. I just wanna be like, hey, it is okay to have days where you just like sit around in your underwear and don’t do anything and feel ashamed for not doing anything. And then it’s okay to have everyone around you doing this, this, and this and that’s okay. Everybody’s gonna have days like that.
“As kind of sad as it is, when you’re in a position of fame or when you’re a recognized figure, no matter what you do people respect it in a way. So let’s say I became a well-known artist and I go around and walk around in sweatpants all the time. Like sweatpants become cool. This is a terrible analogy,” he says, a laugh behind the words. “But I think you can sorta see where I’m going with it. I just want to show people that it’s okay to be a normal person. And be upfront about my mental health and talk about my struggles and that kind of thing. I feel like that would make a lot of people’s lives better.”
No Facades
This does bring to mind another very interesting dichotomy of the man. While he’s actively seeking ways to keep his mental health in check, he’s incredibly active on social media.
“To be totally honest I think I’m pretty real on social media,” he says. “I’m not putting up a facade or anything. But this year, too, there were many times where I was like, man if I didn’t have to do Instagram and stuff for music and keep my brand and stuff like that, I would just delete it. For me it’s not the seeing people have great vacations and having a good time. For me, a lot of the time it’s seeing other artists working,” he admits. “Like, I’m kind of a workaholic, so when I see that I’m sort of like, shoot I should be doing that. That would be when things start getting stressful.
“So now with social media, I try to just limit the amount I’m looking at other people and really just use it to connect with people through the things that I’m doing. But it’ll come and go in spurts. Sometimes I’m very active in social media, and sometimes you’ll have a week where I just don’t post any stories, don’t post any photos or anything because I don’t really feel like it. I think being intentional about that kind of thing is really healthy.”
The Peppermint Club & Beyond
All the work to keep himself level certainly is a boon to his life as an artist. Recently he performed at the famous Peppermint Club.
“It was great,” Albert says. That exuberance. That excitement about life. It’s absolutely contagious. “When I lived in New York, I would organize a fair number of my shows. So it was my first one [in LA] where I organized it. I really had to choose a setlist and bring along who I wanted to and have to get the word out about it. So for me it was kind of an exercise in that.
“For the longest time I wanted to get back into the headspace that I was in when I was in New York. So I wanted to do a show. And it really encouraged me to finish a lot of songs that I kind of was not done with, test out new material. It was a good experience. And it was just great to see the love that people showed to sort of a newcomer to LA. I met some really, really dope artists at that show that I’m probably going to work with more in the future.
“That was also the first… See here’s another win from this year.” He’s constantly checking himself. Constantly drawing back to the notion of counting his blessings even in the midst of a lot of mental strain and repair. “That was the first time where I’ve had a set and every single song is a song that I really, really enjoyed performing. Back when my repertoire was a lot smaller, I’d have filler songs here and there and throw things in. But I’m at the point now in my career where I have a very solid set that I really enjoy.”
“I’d say more than half of what I performed is stuff that’s not even out on streaming services yet. When I said that I think 2020’s going to be a big year for me, it’s because I have music in the vault that I’m very excited to release. And it’s going to keep going for a bit. In New York there were times where I was just releasing songs as soon as I was done, so there wasn’t really a plan in place of the future. But this, I have some solid stuff just waiting in the wings.”
Darker Liquor
As we wind down from our conversation, we touch on the subject of his most recent release. “Darker Liquor” is certainly a much deeper dive into Albert’s psyche. It takes longtime listeners of his music to a place they perhaps weren’t prepared to go.
“It’s an old verse, but it’s definitely one of my most introspective I’ve written,” he admits. “Based on this old Daniel Caesar remix that I did that’s still one of my favorite verses of all time.
“It’s a break-up song. Back when I wrote it I wasn’t going through a break-up. I wasn’t in a relationship or anything. But I think the thing that I like about it so much is that it can connect to a relationship or a broken relationship. But it can also connect to any part of your life where you’re unable to let go of something or any time you’re in a rut.
“The song just talks about these different vices that one might go to in a time of stress or loneliness. It’s never mentioned explicitly in the song, but at the end of it there is sort of this big climactic outro. It kind of hits on redemption and reconciliation, but it still keeps it open-ended. I think that’s a trend in relationships or anything in general. You kinda gotta let things heal with time and let things run their course.
SoCo Imprint
“So what happened was I had wanted to make that verse into a song for a while, but I just didn’t have any ideas. Then my friend Amara (Onyewuchi) introduced me to this do named Gil Vargas that’s on the East Coast in the DMV area. He was like, ‘Hey, do you think you could play chords similar to this?’ Then he sent me the loop, it was a bass loop sort of as the foundation of this song. And we were finally able to bring it to life.
“The hook I wrote, you know, especially for this song I didn’t have it as part of the Daniel Caesar but the fist line, ‘Southern Comfort imprint in my cup.’ It’s kind of a weird line. Southern Comfort is the whiskey brand, and imprint, when you drink there’s that little imprint of it left in the cup. So it’s like oh, I just drank all this alcohol.
“But in another sense…” This is one of the rare times he actually takes a pause because he’s genuinely trying to keep his words as close to PG as he can. “I like to do this a lot in my music. Like ‘south,’ like the ‘southern part.’” I can actually see the air-quotes through the phone! “In the most blunt way possible refers to the… lower body parts of a person.” And there it is. We share a laugh. It’s not every day I hear him struggle for modesty.
“But,” Albert continues, “when I talk about like sex and stuff in songs, it’s usually just a metaphor for instant gratification. When you’re feeling lonely, what do you go to for that instant gratification that immediately makes you feel better, but in the end doesn’t help the healing process? I made this song sort of revolve around what sounds like alcohol addiction.
“I never use alcohol as a coping mechanism,” Albert admits. “In that sense it doesn’t relate to me. But that whole metaphor for like trying to rush the healing process is the central theme around the entire song. I was in a relationship until June. I finished the song before that, but incidentally I did go through a break-up from June until now,” he reveals. “So it’s like I didn’t write it because of a break-up, but it’s just interesting that it’s coming out now.
“It is sort of a melodramatic thing. But again, I’m such a level person day-to-day it’s nice to have music that expresses the deeper parts of my emotions.”
Immense Growth
It’s been nearly two years since I last spoke to Albert. Hearing him talk about his journey in the past year gave me such a warm feeling. Every time we speak, there’s a certain level of heaviness attached. Albert engages the mind in a way many artists aren’t always wont to do. Whenever we get the chance to speak, I know I’m in for something truly remarkable. He opens himself up so fearlessly, allowing us a deeper peek into who he is as an artist and a man.