Blessed is aligning music with the planet and the stars
The Ghana-born, Western Sydney-raised music producer speaks on a new sense of confidence, his dad’s spirit in his music, and ten years of making a musical community.
This story was originally published in Justsmile Issue 1 FW20.
Photography Bryce Thomas
Styling Kevin Hunter
Text Erin McFadyen
Blessed wears sweater and jeans GUCCI. Jewelry Blessed’s own.
On music as medicine: My name is Blessed, and I make music — I’m a music producer, I guess. I'm working a mixed tape, looking at music as a medicine. I’m interested in how different frequencies affect the body in different ways. Most music’s tuned for 440 hertz, which is standard, but then my project is tuned to all these different frequencies to give you a different effect or a different feeling. I’ve been researching this whole year, to figure out what frequencies can affect us in what ways. There are different ways of thinking about it — there are frequencies that are aligned with the planet, and that goes into astrology as well. In that way the project comes to intertwine this weird, mystical, spiritual, musical world.
On spirituality: My parents are Christian, that's why my name is Blessed. I've always been searching for answers. I want to learn things about other people's ideas. Astrology is something that I kind of got into a bit this year. The whole spirituality thing just feels like it’s just me, I guess.
Community is definitely important in terms of building and growing, and holding each other accountable.
On community: I started making music in a small musical community maybe 10 years ago, when there wasn’t a huge number of Australian artists from different backgrounds around. So we had a small community. We started this little scene, a little hub, that's grown into what it is now with all these guys coming from the same community that I'm from. Community is definitely important in terms of building and growing, and holding each other accountable.
Blessed wears sweater GUCCI. Jewelry Blessed’s own.
On secularity: I've always loved music. It’s been an important part of my life, especially growing up in church with music every Sunday. My parents listened to gospel music. So I didn’t even listen to rap or anything until Kanye made the song Jesus Walks, and I was like, ‘mom, look, this song is about Jesus!’ That was my little crossover into the secular world. Now I write music that’s kind of introspective. It’s kind of motivational, but not in a ‘get up and change your life’ type of way. Whatever is going on in my life and the lives of my friends around me, I kind of implement in my music.
On his role model: I’m inspired by my dad. He’s a pastor, and he’s always been there for everybody. As the pastor, people come to you with their problems. He’ll always go and counsel people and always be kind and helpful. He’s someone who's there when you need. It’s great to watch him and learn from him. I kind of took that spirit and ran with it in music.
On selfhood: This year I’ve gained a new sense of confidence, which I think has come from spending a lot more time with myself. I’ve been figuring out who I am and what I want to do, and I think I do know now, a little better, who I am. I want to continue holding this fire and confidence that I have right now. I’ve been researching psychology — I want to learn as much as I can about this stuff.
On what’s made him smile: This conversation.
