Review Summary: quicksand
Some people say that the purpose of art is to communicate something, to express ideas or to put emotions as directly as possible onto a medium. Others say that art is a way to funnel out ideas bottled up within us. Paris Michael, a fresh college-aged talent from the southside of Chicago, says that the purpose of his art is to create something “someone may one day fall in love with.” If you can accomplish any of these things, you’re doing something. But the real trick is layering it.
And Then We Grew Up is a great example of the subjective interpretability of art, the depth of meaning that it is possible to present in music.
Communicating something is harder than it sounds. You can just say what you’re thinking, but first you have to figure out what that is, and then express that without being overly corny or too subtle. Paris is good at balancing the two. This is a three-part album with interludes and spoken word segments that somehow manages to escape from the trap of pretentiousness. Some of this clearly comes from experience – he speaks deeply on racism and depression, probably the two most important topics for Black millennials. “Funny thing is you just blame us for all of our problems like you had nothing to do with it” is the best summary of the alt-right attitude I’ve ever heard, on the mournful
Blonde-esque “blackbird.” Meanwhile, a subtle darkness seeps through the whole project, accurately portraying the mentality of someone raised in an era in which “because the internet” was a viable answer for more than just lists of Glover albums.
At the same time, this is a deeply personal album, one that is more than just a general message for the world to hear but one filled with confessions of feeling. Paris goes on an introspective journey throughout the scope of the album, continuously questioning himself and the world around him – “if God was from the south side, you think that he’d go outside with a .45 in his left hand and a Holy Bible on his right side?” – and never smoothing over any difficult topics. “teenage fantasy” heavily samples an angry couple fighting over fidelity, full of uncomfortable moments, acting as an interesting parallel to romantic tracks like “tears and reminiscence” and the Jodeci-sampling interlude, even if he hints at it with lines like “monogamy isn’t your strong suit.” The whole project comes off as a love song written from the perspective of someone who struggles to find a love anywhere near the love spoken of in other love songs, which ironically means that he has found a much truer love.
Love is obviously something Paris pursues on a deep level with more than just his music, but he has some serious potential to achieve his goal with his music. The structure of the album, the personality, the way he absorbs his classic influences (Kanye, Rakim, Prince, among others), the way he stays modern and topical (the “radio” parts on this project do XXXTentacion better than the real thing), the lyrics, his flow, etc., it all stands out in a very crowded and talented market. I’m not in love with it yet, but I’m getting there.
