Tunde Adebimpe, the acclaimed frontman of TV on the Radio, is finally releasing his debut solo album, Thee Black Boltz, on April 18th via Sub Pop Records. The highly anticipated album, produced by Adebimpe and Wilder Zoby (with Zoby also serving as executive producer), features contributions from his TV on the Radio bandmates Jaleel Bunton and Jahphet Landis, among others. Known for his distinctive vocals and imaginative soundscapes, Adebimpe explores the human experience in all its facets on Thee Black Boltz, addressing both major and minor life stressors.
A preview of the album, the introspective track ‘Drop,’ produced by Jahphet Landis, is available now. The song opens with beatboxing and delves into existential questions, asking “But will I feel it when I drop? / Restless hours / The ticking of a clock / On my life / And my life’s just a dot / On a timeline / And my soul / Is fading tonight.”
Thee Black Boltz isn’t a TV on the Radio album, but the excitement of creating something solo reignited the same spark Adebimpe felt during the band’s early days. While his songwriting process remains consistent, the dynamic is different. With TVOTR, he could share nascent ideas, trusting his bandmates Jaleel Bunton and Kyp Malone to flesh them out. Thee Black Boltz lacked that familiar scaffolding, a prospect that was both “terrifying and exhilarating.”
The album title itself reflects the core of the project: a response to the unease of a post-pandemic world trending towards authoritarianism, compounded by personal grief, including the sudden loss of his younger sister during its creation. Thee Black Boltz represents Adebimpe’s search for joy amidst the dissonance and sorrow. Making the album, he explains, was his way of processing these experiences:
It was my way of building a rock or a platform for myself in the middle of this fucking ocean.
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