Brent Faiyaz gives new album feel of Shakespearean tragedy
This summer, billboards in major cities across the country displayed the following cryptic phrase: “I would like to apologize in advance for the person I’m gonna become once this album drops.”
The billboards belonged to singer-songwriter
Brent Faiyaz; the album in question was “Wasteland,” a cautionary, R&B-trap opera deriding fame in a time of social and political upheaval. “Wasteland” recently debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 2, just behind global megastar Bad Bunny. This counts as a massive triumph for Faiyaz, 26, who has steadfastly committed to working independently of major labels, including distribution.
Faiyaz was born Christopher Brent Wood in Columbia, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore, to parents of African American and Dominican descent. Despite being extremely introverted as a child, he recorded freestyle raps at home in secret; it was on his Soundcloud page that he test drove the moniker “Faiyaz,” an Arabic word for “artistic,” as suggested by a Muslim classmate. Although his teen dream was to be a famous rapper, Faiyaz began slowing his flow to reveal a more silvertongued, R&B Casanova lurking within.
“Wasteland” pushes forth R&B for a generation of chronic social media oversharers and blood-letters, keen to show their battle scars after a pandemic left millions dead and millions more feeling lonely and adrift. Faiyaz, who once sought out the limelight, found himself hard to recognize under its glare.
This interview with
Faiyaz has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: You put up billboards that read: “I would like to apologize in advance for the person I’m gonna become once this album drops.” Where did this idea come from? A:
It was the fans. They kept tweeting this line, we just took that and ran with it. From my fans’ perspective, it was fuel for them to be some type of way. For me, it’s a lifestyle thing — my life will never be the same again.
Q: What was your state of mind when you started recording “Wasteland”? A:
I was living in Atlanta for a couple of months, (because) I was dating somebody there. But the George Floyd murder led to riots and protests. And with (COVID-19) going on, everybody done lost somebody. People were out of work. It was a pretty (messed) up time, but I was starting to make the best money of my life. I (was) buying cars and traveling from place to place. I’d be in the studio by day and protesting at night. Then I’d go to the club. That’s when I wrote the (“Wasteland”) songs “Dead Man Walking” and
“Loose Change.”
Q: Those songs are pretty nihilistic. Could you even imagine having a future at that time? A:
I mean, I mostly felt guilt. I was able to do all this cool (stuff ) while people were down bad. I still think we still haven’t fully coped with COVID. There is a lot of healing we as people haven’t done in the last two years.
Q: “Wasteland” unfolds like an R&B opera of sorts. Is this record meant to be autobiographical? A:
Well, the songwriting definitely is. But the skits? Nah.
Q: What made you adopt this form of storytelling? A:
I wanted to give it the feel of a Shakespearean tragedy. A hero fighting against the evil of his own fatal flaws.
Q: Have you ever felt hesitant or scared to share intimate, sometimes unflattering parts of yourself with people? A:
I feel like I had no choice. It wouldn’t resonate if I didn’t go there. Whether you like what you feel, or don’t like what you feel, the goal is to make you feel something.