Redemption In Daniel Caesar's CASE STUDY 01
Here’s the thing, everything is all fine and dandy with “cancel culture” on social media until it boils down to actually canceling an artist. I for one have never successfully done so but Lord knows I try.
Case in point, Canadian rhythm, and blues extraordinaire Daniel Caesar.
The truth is, a mixture of juicy greens that are undeniably poetic when they hit the tongue drenched in Caesar salad dressing is incredibly unhealthy, but we eat it anyway. Daniel, like many of our favourite artists’ is no different.
Perhaps we’ve got to accept that taking the greens and disposing of the dressing is a perfect balance. By dressing I mean, the clothing, the fluff, the nonsense – everything but the nutritional value.
Besides What Is Cancel Culture, Anyway?
Who has been successfully canceled? Someone point me to one of these problematic actors and artists that has dropped the ball tremendously in the last few months, whose entire discography has been washed away? Or who’s movies aren’t box office hits and shows have been taken off networks. T.I is still deh bout, I heard folks rapping to Fabolous’ “So Into You” verse like it was nothing and I still can’t get a pair of Yeezy’s day of release (to be fair, I ain’t never cancel Kanye, but I watched y’all say you did).
At the very least, a misinformed and apologetic musician should be granted the chance to make amends. I agree, that some are more susceptible to public forgiveness than others (in case you were wondering R. Kelly’s cancellation contract is a non-negotiable) but maybe Caesar was simply on the chopping block before the block got chopped.
No Caesar…Not NoJulz
Earlier this year, Freudian mastermind went to bat for public enemy number one, none other than the cultural appropriator YesJulz, in what seemed to be a drunken stupor on Instagram live.
Peep This:
In all fairness, people should be able to express themselves and to Caesar’s point, maybe he truly felt as though Black people were playing the victim and couldn’t take “a joke”. He did apologise for his “pretentious remarks” since then, and perhaps he wasn’t aware of the countless amounts of time’s that Julz felt the need to say n**** or mention supposed hate from Black women?
I’m sure we all have a friend like this, (most likely a male) that feels as though black women have harboured ill will towards Caucasian women for no valid reason. WRONG. Julz wasn’t joking and went on a public platform and called out prominent black women of the hip hop space - Scottie Beam and Karen Civil.
Which was probably the worst time for Daniel to jump in ill-informed and defend victimised white woman tears, especially when this woman claims to be “curating culture” in a hip hop space created by black people. You hate to see it.
“They say redemption’s on your mind when you think about [him]…”
When I read that Daniel had a new album coming out, I looked to my room ceiling and thought, “damn, I’mma have to listen to this one aren’t I”. What will my black Internet cousins (shout of to Evelyn from the internets) think? What’s the harm in taking a quick listen…or 5 and then “canceling” dude again?
And so, I did…
Alas, The Case Study 01
Like Freudian, Daniel blesses us with an even 10 tracks, full of melodies and introspective dialogue which is very necessary, with the release of his new project because many of us are still wondering WHY THE HECK HOMIE DECIDED TO DEFEND THE LIKES OF THAT OUTRAGEOUS CAUCASITY?!
Daniel Caesar’s 2019 sophomore album cover
Case Study 01 feels like a mood board pieced together with convoluted images and thoughts that somehow seem to flow together and into one another.
Calm in the Chaos
Listeners are swiftly invited into Caesar’s world of chaos and disorganisation, quite literally as he entitled the very first song “ENTROPY”. Which means, our assumptions were merely correct, Caesar’s life is in shambles and like many of us, and he admittedly knows nothing!
In a rendition of “His Eye Is On The Sparrow”, Daniel pairs his relationship to God and his upbringing in the church against this yearning for acceptance in front of the world, in order to ultimately be content in who he is.
On “TOO DEEP TO TURN BACK”,
“Good God Jehovah, what’s this I see? / my mortality starring back at me/ n***** think I’m scared / n***** think I’m a b****/ but I ain’t come prepared / I ain’t know what this is
Oh Lord Jehovah, what’s this I see? / Bourgeoisie tryna silence me / they don’t know what I been through/ they don’t know what I pree / seen s*** that you see up on your TV screen / follow me to salvation / your mind’s still on plantation ”
It seems as though Caesar feels like a spectacle, not only around Black people but also around the elitists of the industry. Despite all his hardships he invites us to follow his lead and “free our minds” so to speak.
On “CYANIDE”, Caesar expresses that he is a Godly man that might very well end up in the deeps of despair down below (or on Earth…being dragged by social media).
Although Caesar doesn’t claim to be religious anymore, there is a sense of value held in his pull to a source of truth and goodness found in a higher power and in living out his true purpose.
On “SUPERPOSITION“ featuring John Mayer, Daniel shares an apparent existential proposition and his belief that life is all about contradictions.
“I’ll figure it out before I break / if I should die before I wake / oh please do not resuscitate / I know I didn’t live my life in vain”
In connection to accepting and responding to a higher calling, he confesses that creating music is the easier part of his calling but that managing the rest of his chaotic life is where the difficulty lies. There’s that connection to entropy yet again. That is a feeling we could all relate to, a desire to turn tragedy into triumph and hoping to remain sane while doing so.
Black Kid On The Block
Caesar grew up in Oshawa; Ontario, which is not exactly the Blackest small town one could find themselves in, in Canada.
Also on “ENTROPY”,
“I hated myself as a boy and now that I don’t they’re tryna take my joy.”
Caesar mentions his plight as a young Black man adjusting to his likeness and learning to accept himself, in front of others (but this time not as a world-renowned r&b singer), you may empathise with the uncertainty in his positionality as a black man in proximity whiteness.
If you weren’t the “liked” black kid amongst other black kids you may find yourself occasionally going to bat for cultural appropriators in the name of “why can’t we all just get along?” The side that seemingly accepted you and made you the token black kid, might be to blame for that. Might.
They Always Come Back
What’s a Daniel Caesar project if he doesn’t serenade women? And what’s a “canceled” Caeser project if he doesn’t clearly big up Black women by the end? Also on “CYANIDE”, Salad dressing sings…
“...rich deep dark chocolate / sweet melanin / forever more you gon’ be my kin.”
Did you cringe also? Just me? Cool.
If you are one to cancel a public figure and be on to the next, then more power to you. If you aren’t and care to give folks *sings* “one more chance” I suggest you listen to Case Study 01. It’s a smooth listen, besides Caesar is practically begging y’all with the kinfolk shout out.
He, like the rest of us, is stuck in this thing called life, making his mistakes publicly while the rest of us get to take our L’s in private. And although there is no real excuse to his defence on NoJulz, we might have to rethink removing Freudian out of the classic pile just yet.
