Last month Daniel Caesar was one of many guests on the sprawling Blood Orange single "The Field," and more recently he had production credits on Justin Bieber's SWAG. Now the Toronto R&B singer-songwriter is teasing his own new album called Son Of Spergy, which features Bon Iver, Clairo, Dev Hynes, Sampha, and more.
The announcement came with a video on Instagram with overlain text that reads:
I'm currently sitting, sweating like a pig, in 98 degree heat inside my NYC apartment trying to regulate my emotional state(my A/C is fried). In every heat, God has been good. I'm trying to write a letter announcing the album, but I want it to be profound and clever. I have this secret desire to think and express a thought that's never been thought before. But alas.
When I was little any time my dad was disappointed in me or felt as though I needed motivation (or he wanted me to understand him, which I didn't at the time) he would tell me his carefully curated but true origin story. He would tell me of the glory days of the Jamaica tourism industry and how he would sing dinner music at Doctor's Cave Beach to foreigners from all over the world. How he made enough money to help his father, a lowly orphan who became a taxi driver, pay to finish the construction of their family home in Saltspring, Jamaica. Along with a Fender Stratocaster and a fresh pair of Clarks Wallabies. He told me how a friendly couple from Canada heard him sing and brought him to Canada to sing on 3ABN (an Adventist TV station). This would spark his love for the country and later he would go on to move there and meet my mother. He would tell me these stories and I would listen uninterestedly due to having heard them 1000 times. He would warn me of the dangers this world had to offer, seemingly pleasant but in fact fleeting, and would encourage me to center God in my life.
Being young is so interesting because how many times does a person have to hear good advice before it becomes cliche? We resent the cliches of our parents until we become them. I am now the herald all I refused to believe in.
I'm now the same age my dad was when he had me, and I can't help but be embarrassed by how much smarter than him I thought I was; because I went to school in Canada and I could construct sentences more eloquently than he could. That's the thing about the culture here (another cliche), we continually conflate the sounding smart with wisdom. Lately I've come to a place where I realize no one will ever think a thought that hasn't been thought before, nor will anyone try a thing that hasn't been tried before. Everything is vanity. Family is everything. Be truthful and forthright in your dealings. Never forget that god is the only eternal measuring stick for morality. I am nothing, but in my flesh I am Spergy's Son, and in my spirit I am God's.
In the clip, Caesar tags Bon Iver, Clairo, Dev Hynes, Sampha, Rex Orange County, and 646yf4t. Caesar's latest album was 2023's Never Enough (not to be confused with the recent Turnstile LP).
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