Backxwash Wraps Her Cinematic Trilogy: "The Big Baddie Is Defeated"
Horrorcore artist Ashanti Mutinta looks towards the future, saying, "I know I can't talk about my trauma for another project."
Despite its emotional heaviness, the album ends on a surprisingly uplifting note with "MUKAZI" — a thank-you to Mutinta's supporters set to a laid-back sample.
"If you're looking at it from a movie perspective, when the big baddie is defeated … the last scene kind of paints a picture that this thing is never coming back," she explains.
"I guess ['MUKAZI'] is looking forward to better days, but it's also an homage to the kind of music I used to make when I was younger," like conscious hip-hop with bright instruments and pop samples, she says.
Sonically, the instrumentation is complicated and layered, full of hand-picked "textures," acoustic and electronic elements, and high-energy vocals.
"If the beat is becoming denser, the voice has to match up," she says. "I don't want to let the beat overpower me. Sometimes, you have a lot of energy and want to release it, and the best thing you can do at that point is just scream."
She feels like she finally found her sound with this trilogy, and she's looking forward to writing new music now that she's hit her stride. There's more content to come, and whatever's next will be notably different from anything she's put out before.
"I know I can't talk about my trauma for another project. I have to find something else to talk about, and we'll have to innovate on the sound because of that," Mutinta says. "But I'm really happy with where the project is right now, and I can't wait to see what we do in the future."