serpentwithfeet

Overview

Music remains one of the most intact genealogical records of Blackness. Across the diaspora, music has been a critical asset in maintaining culture, preserving experiences and communicating a sonic epistemology derived from the material condition of being Black. The celebratory, reflective, impassioned, and downtrodden moods throughout the canon of Black music articulate a unique spectrum of the ways that Black people have made sense of themselves. At the intersections of Black identity, and queerness, music has been an innovative methodology of affirming existence and being playful with perceptions of standardness, normativity, deviance, and mischief. The composition and production of Black music genres– from house, to electronic, to pop, to rock, etc– reflect a typology of sonic design. Including music into the canon of design, approaching producers as sonic architects, and singers as vocal designers, we can begin to consider sound in space, buildings, parks, and other built environment sites as a critical consideration for the excellence of its design. 

 

Serpent composes music that is distinct and embodies visuality. Each song is an effective vision of place, mood, and feeling. He is also a spatialist. His music often references a range of sites from the bedroom, to the city of Baltimore in which his feeling within those spaces is transmuted into an original song. Building a space of communion and fellowship, ‘Serpents Parlor,’ an affinity group for Black men, is the artist’s newest manifestation of translating his need for safe spaces for Black men into a place of shared reflection and care. 

 

​​serpentwithfeet is simply letting the pendulum swing nowadays. The Baltimore, Maryland-born singer-songwriter, is taking the natural steps as a versatile talent from chapter to chapter in his career. serpent’s third album GRIP is the result of these latest steps. GRIP finds its home on the dance floor of the club and the intimate moments that happen there and afterward, no matter the location.

 

Serpent’s third album explores the intimate forms of physical touch and how they occur. Whether it be a grip around the waist or the face, serpentwithfeet managed to explore all angles thanks to the second lens he looked through. 

 

Serpent set his attention on the world that he called home in the important adult years of his life, and with this, we see a study of community on GRIP. This community had a huge impact on the LA-based singer, and through ten songs, he gives it its flowers with a body of work that highlights the moments that are most close to the heart. Throughout his eight-year career, serpent has exhibited this versatility through experimental R&B music. Three years removed from his second album DEACON, serpentwithfeet continues to push the limits of his artistry with his third album GRIP.

 

This episode is dedicated to taking an expansive approach to design, one that is focused on and based on the multimedia, and multidisciplinary techniques approached by Black artists, and music organizers to create safe sonic and physical spaces for Black communities, and specifically, Black Queer communities to flourish. How can we learn from the authenticity of your work and approaches?

Full Transcript

About serpentwithfeet

​​serpentwithfeet is simply letting the pendulum swing nowadays. The Baltimore, Maryland-born singer-songwriter, is taking the natural steps as a versatile talent from chapter to chapter in his career. serpent’s third album GRIP is the result of these latest steps. GRIP finds its home on the dance floor of the club and the intimate moments that happen there and afterward, no matter the location.

 

Serpent’s third album explores the intimate forms of physical touch and how they occur. Whether it be a grip around the waist or the face, serpentwithfeet managed to explore all angles thanks to the second lens he looked through. 

 

Serpent set his attention on the world that he called home in the important adult years of his life, and with this, we see a study of community on GRIP. This community had a huge impact on the LA-based singer, and through ten songs, he gives it its flowers with a body of work that highlights the moments that are most close to the heart. Throughout his eight-year career, serpent has exhibited this versatility through experimental R&B music. Three years removed from his second album DEACON, serpentwithfeet continues to push the limits of his artistry with his third album GRIP.

How to Listen

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