ESSAY PROPOSAL: KESHI – week five
GABRIEL ALBUM
I aim to base my essay on the artist Keshi’s album named ‘GABRIEL’. Keshi, born as Casey Luong, is a singer/songwriter, instrumentalist and producer who includes lo-fi hip-hop beats and ‘ultra-chill R&B vocalising’ [allmusic.com] with the addition of his ‘feather-light falsetto, breezy acoustic guitar work and delicate and textural instruments’ in his music. This is his first album in which he has produced ballads and ‘slow jams’ which are shown to show his development and inspiration from John Mayer, Frank Ocean and Bryson Tiller, through the sound of R&B. From his inspirations, he has also taken away the aspect of being lyrical and honest, wanting to portray this through his music as well, being personal and powerful, yet doing this discreetly.
Keshi has evolved through his music, starting from the use of ‘bittersweet melodies, lamenting lyrics of lost love, and wobbly lo-fi hip-hop beats’, then to more acoustic guitar-based material, however he then started to get the sense that he was limiting himself through what he could do musically and turned away from the idea of avoiding certain genres that he felt like he couldn’t do. This realisation and Keshi being more open to other genres led to his album ‘GABRIEL’ portraying his most authentic self, being one who ‘values reinvention and fluidity’. The album starts with the song “Get It”, opening with a heavy 808-bass. Keshi stated that he aimed to ‘shake it up with the first song, wanting to make a song with a bunch of live energy for the live shows’, also wanting to include a ‘sweet aspect to the song since it felt disingenuous without it’ [Teen Vogue interview]. He was prior known for having a gentle or romantic sound and he wanted to make a statement with his debut album that there are a variety of sounds that he wanted to try, which could explain why he chose to open the album with this kind of song.
The album ‘GABRIEL’ has been produced in a way that makes it personal to Keshi, including his father in one of the tracks in addition to the last song on the album being about his parents. Through this album, he has ‘introduced new layers of his persona and simultaneously, new layers of himself as Casey’, where he is described to be more candid and honest that he has ever been before.