Typography In Music — P.O.S.

That One

Man, where to begin with this song. I guess I’ll start out by making a bold statement, P.O.S. is one of the most important musicians of the last 10 years. He puts forth some of the most honest, freshly distinctive, uncon­ven­tional and innov­ative music today. It’s always challenging, holding layers, that are worth the time to unravel and dissect. In my opinion, his debut release, 2004’s Ipecac Neat was unprece­dented, raw and full of heart. He poured himself into each track, with a fearless deter­mi­nation to be heard. Stef is a grand mix of talent and passion. He has a unique voice and lucky for us, he chooses to use it. I’ve never liked the mainstream bullshit, the watered-down music that finds it’s way into the ears of millions of sheep, eating the shit up like it’s the cure for cancer. It’s not, music like this is. The unrestricted, honestly bare-bones approach, leaving every­thing on the table. There is no “dressing it up”, no “making it pretty, marketable and easily digestible”. There is an honest connection that one recog­nizes and believes in. I have always been drawn to music that carries passion, integrity and conviction. There is no conviction and/or, to an extent, passion in mainstream music, it’s a business. I don’t believe it, so I don’t find it to be worth my time. I guess it’s a difference in what you demand from music, the value you find in music.

My love for hip-hop has every­thing to do with a deep love of language.
People dismiss hip-hop as ignorant and an abomi­nation to music. Like anything, you have to sift through the shit to find what matters. I want to hear lyrics that mean something.

The funny thing is that hip-hop holds, by far, the most intel­ligent and creative expression of language in music today. I can not think of one single other genre of music that comes close. Don’t get me wrong, there are excellent, brilliantly-crafted lyrics to be found in any genre of music. If we measured them all up though, I think we’d find that hip-hop buries it’s compe­tition. The sad thing, is that the commercial and marketable shit is all the sheep hear and in turn, dismiss the entire genre. Fortu­nately, I’ve never been close-minded when it comes to anything in life. Life is too short for restric­tions, especially when it comes to something as humanly expressive as art.

Anyway, I’m getting a bit sidetracked…so..on to the song.
This song came to me when I needed it most. It offers a sincere, honest look at ones internal reaction to failed love. This song is the epitome of excellent story­telling and structure. Starting out with an intense barrage of lyrics, layers of aggression, passion and well-structured lyrical passages. Like thoughts, just festering in the brain, cycling through over and over, the could of and should of, the accusa­tions of blame, the back-and-forth struggles of relation­ships. The confusion, the stress, the out-of-your mind pure fucking sadness. The desire to relieve yourself of the situation, find something, hold on for a bit longer. The olive branch. The memories, the little things, the times you shared and every­thing you miss. The realization that someone actually found it within themselves to love you, with all their heart and it was mutual. The pain that it may never happen again.

I struc­tured this type exper­iment out in the same fashion the song builds.
The barrage of thoughts, all mixed-up and primal, followed by the climax, the main point, the final output of frustration and that glimpse of closure.

“My best, you can have it if you want it“
This almost offers comfort in the whole mess. The justi­fi­cation through being rational approach.

“Drowning, I’m not waving, I’m drowning“
The unease of it all, being human, being vulnerable, having your world collapse around you. The desire to give-in and fester in your sadness, to be alone.

This is one of my favorite songs ever and probably always will be.
Stef has refined his approach over the years and still continues to impress me, or rather, floor me with his expression, his craft. Nothing he puts out will ever touch the vulnerable beauty that is Ipecac Neat. Rather, nothing he puts out will affect me in the same way — pretty much like every­thing in life.

I also created a “waving” hand graphic that has a portion missing from the “ring” finger. Empha­sizing a shattered relationship. I’m trying to break myself of the desire to make every­thing clean in these type explo­rations. I always gravitate toward clean, struc­tured type and it’s tough to break the habit. I may start only using hand-drawn type for a while, free from the structure of typefaces and the computer.

I really enjoying doing these because it allows me to explore my favorite songs in a whole new light.