Authenticity is an interesting concept. One that appears simple on the surface but has a great deal of depth to its exact meaning. A recent academic article has noted that scholars use the term to refer to three different perspectives and meanings on the word. The different interpretations view authenticity as: “(1) consistency between an entity’s internal values and its external expressions, (2) conformity of an entity to the norms of its social category, and (3) connection between an entity and a person, place, or time as claimed.” The aim of the article was to appraise and compare the different approaches in a critical manner. By conducting this analysis the academics were able to provide new understanding to the term authenticity.
This new understanding of authenticity can be used for further research onto the subject. The artist Allocai highly values authenticity and works hard to imbue his music with this distinctive yet elusive term. He manages to achieve this in a number of ways which will be discussed in more detail.
Copyright: Allocai
Allocai, Black Silver and Authenticity
When asked about his first album, Allocai said that it was, “pretty edgy, more uncontent and more wild”. He has done this on purpose in this eclectic album because he was learning and honing in on his process. In Black Silver, Allocai’s latest album, he feels that he has achieved a level of mastery over his process. Allocai isolated himself during the creative process so that he would have more time with his own thoughts and feelings. He also thought deeply about how he could bring these feelings to life by expressing them sonically. Allocai has stated that Black Silver is unequivocally the result of this process.
Allocai thinks that this album is his most honest and personal work to date. This is why it was important to him that the album had a slightly dystopian sound to it as well as occasional hints of jazz. This was done with the intent of making the listener understand and feel the solitude which Allocai wishes to convey. This also achieves a greater level of intimacy between listener and artist. If he was forced to, Allocai would classify his music as either alternative pop or alternative rock.
Allocai likes to rebrand his image each time he is gearing up to releasing a new project. In this way both his visual and sonic aesthetic are cohesive. With Black Silver, Allocai wanted an image that has a, “sleek, urban but classy, dystopian kind of feel”. With this aesthetic he hoped to combine Amy Winehouse and the Weeknd as well as jazz and synth. He also wanted this to be expressed in not just his music but the way he looks as well. For his visual aesthetic he settled on black and white with a lot of silver accents.
Allocai highly values his participation in the LGBT community. He also considers himself a part of the fight for LGTB rights and associates himself with the black lives matter movement. He also values being uniquely himself. Allocai finds that, much of the time, people let their labels define them. He believes that people should define their labels instead. He claims that this is because no one is limited to being one thing.
Allocai is fascinated by the number of ways in which people can be themselves. He refers to this as the different ways of being human. Meeting a wide array of people who had many different ways of being themselves helped him to figure out his own way of being himself. He enjoys seeing people express their individuality and not be “bogged down by their labels” and acting in a manner that they think they should be acting in, in order to be a certain way.
Final Thoughts
Allocai has a creative process which has both depth and intrigue. He engaged in a period of isolation to better understand himself and his feelings as well as the best way to convey this through music. He has spent a great deal of time honing his process and fine tuning himself on his latest project. The result is an undeniably authentic album that reveals a clear and intimate portrait of the artist.