I’ve been asked a few times now about the meaning of #PINKELEPHANT and how I chose the order of the songs being released.
The meaning of #PINKELEPHANT.
In it’s basic form it means “The Black Sheep of Love”, but to me it has a deeper meaning.
Originally #PINKELEPHANT was nothing more than a shirt I wore in a photo shoot. I liked the shirt but didn’t think much of it. When I posted the first photo from the shoot online I got such a great response I thought, “I wonder if I can turn this into an album title and give it meaning?” A little bit before that particular photo shoot I had gone through a shitty breakup and once again felt the sting of heartbreak and rejection. So I was listening to Blues music like it was air. I literally was waking up to Lighting Hopkins and Robert Johnson and falling asleep to B.B. King and John Lee Hooker, it was actually very inspirational. Listening to all these men talk about what I felt not only eased the heartbreak, but struct a chord in me. I realized that the Blues had not been visited often, if at all in Hip Hop. I’m actually quite surprised it hasn’t been utilized more. Once I remembered it was her loss and she gave up the best for the rest I got right to work on composing new works and finishing up ones I had started.
I had already been working on new music with the direction of BluesTrap(combining the genres of Blues and Trap) and so in my mind I had a head start. One tricky element of albums and projects such as this that many don’t think about or tend overlook, is deciding what songs are going to be used and in what order. I knew how I wanted the project flow a certain way and a few songs I had close to finished were right in line with it, but I was missing a few ideas I wanted incorporated with the album. These ideas were missing because I was still searching for the perfect samples. They’ve been found, but I’m always searching for the perfect one. Without giving away anything about the remaining songs, I’ll go into a little bit of detail in regards to the songs already released.
First off the songs of #PINKELEPHANT are meant to represent a long term relationship break up and the mind states you go through during and after the heart break.
“So Happy Blues”
The project starts with a sample saying “I found a new love, I won’t have to cry no more.” There’s several ideas behind this song, the first is reminding yourself that there’s other fish in the sea and when someone rejects you, it’s because they don’t deserve you. The second idea is one that most everyone goes through after a break up and that’s a rebound. Most rebounds don’t last, but we tend to tell ourselves I found another love. This one is better than the last. And with todays social networks, most people want to post photos with the new “love” and show the Ex what they gave up and how happy they are without them. This song is an ode to that process and the emotions that go with it.
“All Alone”
I’ve always felt this song explains itself quite well. “An empty bed, in an empty room, oh the light it is too bright and the night’s too soon”. The second stage of heartbreak usually appears in the form of loneliness and the feeling of “no one loves me”. After being with someone and sharing a bed with that person, laying alone at night can be absolutely brutal. This is an emotion many of us are far too familiar with and the second I heard this sample I could feel it in my soul and knew the words before she even sang them. I knew the singer was feeling these emotions and I knew using the sample would convey what we were both feeling, loneliness, sadness and rejection.
“Low Down Shaken”
This is the one song that might throw people off a little bit. The first two songs in this project have a very clear message and meaning behind the song. This one doesn’t have any less meaning, although I would understand why some might not see it. Around this time in a break up, people tend to start going out again, dating, etc. What my intentions were with this song was to remind people to have fun, even though this project is about the blues. “The blues aint nothin but a, low down shaken”. The second intention was to force myself to stay to a strict genre and style. When I started with the idea of BluesTrap, the thought process was “Blues samples with Trap style drums”. All of the albums drums and percussion are extremely Trap influenced, but I hadn’t yet arranged a song for the project that was more in line with Trap music than with Blues music. So as I built this particular song I really made sure to lean towards the Trap side of things. You may be heart broken, but you’re not dead! lol 🙂
I hope you have all enjoyed the music so far! I will be doing a second follow up post after the EP is released in July.
Until then go to soundcloud.com/ganzobean to listen and purchase the first 3 songs from #PINKELEPHANT and be sure to SHARE!
Thank you for all the support and love!
– Ganzobean
All things Ganzobean 