Image via Klassik
In anticipation of Juneteenth celebrations this Saturday, one of the city’s most prolific genre-bending artists returns with a track that reacts to the previous year in America. “Black Holiday” is a new video from Klassik, which features messages of joy, inclusion, and calls for justice, all within around four minutes. Created last year, the song is a call to seek freedom from oppression, as well as celebrate being a person of color in America.
“There was a lot of anger, which is an emotion that I’ve learned very recently as a black man in this country is something that you tend to steer away from. There’s a stigma of being black and being angry” explains Klassik. “The song opens up a larger discussion of how to embrace and express this, and how to be passionate. Like saying ‘I’m not gonna be dismissed.’ These issues are old, and we’ve been through all of this before. The song’s declaration of ‘you’ve got the wrong one’ is like the PG version of saying ‘you’ve got me effed up.’”
From a sonic perspective, the track feels utterly cathartic, with a chorus that can easily get stuck in your head, and blasts of emotion when the synths and drums aren’t enough. In his signature sound palette, Klassik harmonizes the need to celebrate life, and the perseverance of black people in America to dodge obstacles in order to be successful. It’s an uplifting piece of work that at a surface level may sound contrarian to modern protest music, but very much carries the ethos. It was an artistic choice by Klassik, who cites similar hip hop tracks that have echoed the sentiments of “Black Holiday” in the past.
“I feel like an early model for this song was how Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” feels” said Klassik. “It was a declaration, and a reassurance. This song was made in that vein. I wanted it to have some bounce, but I wanted it to feel urgent.”
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“Black Holiday” was crafted shortly after the murder of George Floyd, and refined through several versions in the past year before its release. Early renditions of the song were teased in at-home Facebook Live performances from Klassik, in which he would essentially jam as a one-man band, looping drum patterns, keys and filtered vocals on the fly to create something totally unique. It’s a process that is not only fascinating to watch, but also contributes to the production of Klassik’s albums.
“Once I create something, I have the intention of it being a song” said Klassik. “My process can vary. I naturally tend spend a lot of time with something. I’ve had this song for a year. There’s a lot of songs that are near completion, some are recorded. As things shift and change in this new environment of releasing music, I’m still somebody that’s a fan of a body of work. I’ve got lots of material and this song is a very strong start, but I have more songs that are succinct and impactful in the works.”
The visual from the team of Samer Ghani, Rakim and Blizz not only showcases black joy, but includes historical footage the Civil Rights movement to connect the dots to today’s celebrations. In addition to the video, the single is currently available on all streaming platforms, with more work being polished for an eventual body of work, tentatively scheduled for this fall. In the meantime, you can check out the video for “Black Holiday” below:
