music moots with Imp ("WATER WERKS" by Killian)
We are extremely back with Music Moots™, the blogseries where I ask someone to recommend me a song they like, and then I listen to the song and then write a little about it.
Today we have Imp! The self-described "producer/emcee/audio engineer/jack-of-all trades" from Atlanta has a new album out called Thy Flesh Consumed, and it's a very special project: a posthumous collaboration with the late producer Fendi Pendergrass (regular readers of I Enjoy Music might recall interviews with other Fendi collaborators Kaffo, the Sensei and jak the act) where Imp honors Fendi's memory by going in on his instrumentals. The release date falls on what would be Fendi's 29th birthday.
Imp
"The production he had left behind for me had been sitting on my hard drive rotting away, and I knew he'd be upset with me for letting it do so," Imp writes. The verses on Thy Flesh Consumed were "written specifically to appease what Fendi would often ask of me: 'spit that hard shit', but through my own interpretation of what he'd mean by that." The seven tracks see Imp attacking Fendi's film noir beats with a focused fury, offsetting the chill/moody vibes with just enough fire to create deliciously sharp contrasts...like dipping a blade of hot just-forged steel into cold water, or, for the more dessert-minded among us, like dipping a spoon into a freshly plated baked Alaska.
Final track "borrowed time" encapsulates the mood of the whole project. The song finds Imp lost in grief, seeking a way out while understanding there simply is no easy way out of such a mindset: "Pivot to my lobotomy / Kill the emotions inside of me...peace of mind is a commodity." The track ends with a snippet of dialogue between Fendi and Imp, playfully trading off verses. "I'll wipe you off the face of the earth...what rhymes with earth?" Fendi asks. "I'm not telling you," Imp says, laughing. It's a sweet and sentimental moment that highlights the natural magnetism of their collaborations.
Imp recommended "WATER WERKS" by Killian, a fellow Atlanta artist who sings the hook on "borrowed time." "The song itself is a really petty, childish Cancerian bop," they write. "She is more than capable of being mature and serious in both her everyday life and her records, so it's really exciting to see her exude being petulant on a song."
Killian
First, the beat kicking in after that initial butter-smooth vocal run...ooooohh!!! The rhythm reminds me a little bit of Missy Elliott's "The Rain," another aquatic tune, and Killian's singing voice is so pretty, which makes the slight brattiness of the spoken verses even more delish.
As a Cancer moon (and triple water sign...the one time I got an IRL astro reading from a sweet elder lady on the Upper West Side, she told me she wasn't not sure if she's ever seen so much water in a chart") I am zeroing in on a crucial line, "I’m too soft for this world, like it's your fault." This is so good. This is the crux of the dark side of water signs: being so sensitive that you end up placing the responsibility of dealing with your sensitivity on others, rather than yourself.
Like, I would love to move through this world with a red carpet rolled out before me, free of inconvenience and misunderstanding. I don't handle disappointment well and I'm very impatient, which is hilarious because wow, life sure throws a lot of poor timing and disappointing shit my way. But making my impatience and disappointment the problem of others often just compounds the issue. Now I have a witness to my petulance, and they're just as pissed off and sad as I am! What have I done??
What "WATER WERKS" lands on, and what I have landed on too, is that being sad by yourself isn't always such a bad thing. "I'm a triple Cancer / Like, we cry about shit," Killian says at the end of the track. Crying is an honorable pastime, and crying privately is sometimes the only thing you can do—as long as you realize there's a difference between indulging in sadness and wallowing in it. And guess what's the cure for too much crying? That's right, going to the bathroom and splashing some cold water on your face. It all comes back to water...water really does work.
Thank you Imp! Listen to Thy Flesh Consumed here.
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