Brooklyn’s own Taphari has announced the release of his upcoming debut LP Blind Obedience by sharing the album’s latest single, ‘Table 42’.
As a slow jam, ‘Table 42’ works wonders. As a mission statement for survival and self-determination, it’s even better. “At the end of the world who are you going to call?” Taphari explains about the song’s message. “Bigger things are happening in the world and I felt myself wasting my youth dwelling on nouns that no longer existed in the present. ‘Table 42’ was inspired by the energy that comes at the end of relationships. It’s very reflective and introspective. The video is the dramatization of the reflection into evolution process.”
Queer representation is sorely lacking in most rap music today. The pearl-clutching reaction to something like Lil Nas X’s ‘Montero’ music video shows how divergent mainstream hip hop and proper LGBT+ art are from one another. That’s not to say that they are completely separate, or could never gel in a cohesive fashion. It’s just that there is still a fair amount of gay-bashing and toxic masculinity that needs to be looked at with a more critical eye.
Taphari certainly isn’t too caught up in making you comfortable or not: if you don’t want to see him glittery in a bathtub lasciviously drinking champagne, well, he’s happy to show you the door. There’s nothing explicit, or even terribly risqué, about the video for ‘Table 42’. It just doesn’t hide anything about his style. It’s pure Taphari, and all the strangeness and singularity that comes with him.
Check out the video for ‘Table 42’ down below. Blind Obedience is set for a July 23 release.
Blind Obedience Tracklisting
1. River to Ocean
2. Cost You
3. Stay in Your Lane
4. Minding My Business
5. Table 42 (ft. Pink Siifu)
6. Kathy Bates
7. Star Signs
8. All of Sudden
9. Insecure
10. Back Soon (ft. Benét)
11. Jet Stream
12. Modern Love