PREMIERE | Yoh, "Woods"
Nature walks with rising Brooklyn artist Yoh; photographed by Sam Hong.
The world events of daily life are a burdensome weight of anger, anxiety, panic, grief, negotiations of fear and responsive pro-activity in the face of what ultimately feels like an overwhelming, incomprehensible and unprecedented level of adversity. Protests disrupt our regularly scheduled shelter-in-place protocols as our social feeds are flooded with activism, calls to arms against authoritarian policing and political organizations, as our conscious collective aims to topple racist and predatory systems in favor of a new representation of inclusive, universal enlightenment. Introducing Brooklyn’s newest star on the block Yoh, who seeks to expand the scope of perception with the mystic debut of the ancestral callings and holistic epiphanies of “Woods”. The melodic rhyme-smith and producer moves the focus outside of the self while gazing deeply inward; tracing the trails of consciousness outward in a calling to the supernatural realm where the teachings of elders and all that cannot be present in the material world impart wisdom and inspiration through the deepest levels of intuition and metaphysical revelations.
Yoh's "Woods" is an outdoor odyssey of magical realism and self-discovery. The rhythm of the delivery resembles a walk through the forest, with production that employs organic percussive elements conjoined with wondrous acoustic strums and an ethereal atmosphere that sounds like the songs of creatures and critters one would encounter during a stroll to clear the mind (and calm the spirit). "Woods" works in beautiful, mysterious ways — a summation of realizations that reveal our place in the expansive histories of ourselves, our families, or communities and our vast, yet small, surrounding world at large. Yoh's narratives explore our own contributions to the world; measuring deeds, talents, pursuits, pressures and more with the connective tissues of all that have arrived before us and the indelible impressions that their respective influences have gifted us like tithes and offerings. These ecstatic epiphanies are expressed with a humbled joy of paying it forward, as Yoh expertly stitches their own multidisciplinary arts together as a part of a greater technicolor quilt that depicts histories seen and unseen, known and unknown together in an economic/poetic collection of consciousness that stretches well beyond the mortal pale.
Revelations of perceptions and vision quests with Yoh; photographed by Sam Hong.
Yoh shared some thoughts about the inspirations behind the new earthy, reflective atmospheres and observations that comprise the new single:
"Woods" stems from a backyard forest hang in Chappaqua, NY and a cliffside meditation deep in Acadia National Park, ME. There was a moment I felt like I understood everything. Every fiber in my body felt like it downloaded ancestrally cosmic information and I began hearing and feeling things that made me reflect on how small I was in the grand scheme of things. I began reflecting on sacrifices, how bizarre it is to work so hard and push my mind and body, how taxing it was feeling like I couldn't stop because someone else is working harder and how I cling so tightly to things that aren’t tangible, only to be mentally subdued by the pressure I’ve created myself.
“Woods” is the love that can only be expressed as a master watching his students bloom. It is the hope that their teachings can take root and help its students blossom into great teachers and the most honest form of themselves through self discovery, sacrifice and openness to learning. It is the result of cosmic download and the relinquishing ego. An open heart and ear to the teachings we’ve learned and must still learn.
Yoh’s upcoming EP will be available later this August via Youngbloods.