BOSLEN’S DUSK TO DAWN: ENLIGHTENING US ON THE BEAUTY OF SHADOW
I was pandemic-baking some banana bread one evening with Boslen’s latest album, Dusk to Dawn, keeping me company in the background, and I remember pausing, feeling the need to define this new sound for myself. To me, these weren’t just dope beats to bake to, there was a clandestine depth to the music that seemed rooted in something dark. “It’s very shadowy,” I concluded.
From that moment on, I listened harder. Like a strange shadow in the night would, each song had me leaning in closer out of pure curiosity. There was a thrill to what might be lurking in the darkness, within the distorted falsetto vocals, the unexpected bass drops, the fleeting moments of shapeshifting from rap to emo rock melodies and back again that had me absolutely mesmerized.
“When it comes to these shadows and the darkness and why I do make dark music, it’s not because I’m, like, coming for some evil sh*t or anything like that,” Boslen explains. “It’s more of, you know, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows where we come from. I think to explore and to be vulnerable and to talk about the dark times or the insecurities you have, or the true reflection in the mirror, that brings more empowerment to the individual and to yourself.”
When normally I’d shy away from the darker sides of things, Boslen’s album drew me in close – closer to my own shadows and to conceivably familiarize with the silhouettes of a hidden identity.
He further illuminates, “When I was getting into music, because it started from a dark place and me tearing my ACL from rugby, I was lost and stuff. But nobody I could talk to would understand, or some things I would say to people I couldn’t say to their face because I was either embarrassed or scared. But I could write it down on a piece of paper, or I could say it in music. And to be a vessel, to explore the darkness and to go into the shadows, you really find some things and uncover some things that you never thought would be there, you know?”
In fact, I did know. I was recently introduced to the concept of “shadow work,” a type of holistic self-reflection or self-examination that was growing in popularity (when literally everyone’s been home alone forever because of quarantines, lockdowns, etc., this can happen). Based on the “shadow self” theory of psychoanalyst Carl Jung, the Shadow in shadow work is defined as “the unconscious parts of the personality that our conscious ego doesn't want to identify in itself.”
Jung’s work was brought up at the top of our interview, actually, by Boslen, and while it’s rare that I get to nerd out about shadow theory with rappers, I kept my cool.
“Did you know about Carl Jung as you were exploring the darker sides of yourself? Or did that come later as you were putting together the album and you made that connection, like, ‘Oh, that’s what I was doing.’”
“I feel like it just kinda happened naturally,” Boslen responds. “I thought if I was able to control my shadow or even speak on it or make any type of tie from the branding, I felt like [my audience] could use that and interpret it in their own ways.
“Because I feel like the shadow theory is not really explored enough, like the ‘Allegory of the Cave’ or the old philosophies by Socrates, Plato, or, like, any of these individuals that truly shaped mankind I feel like is not explored enough in hip hop, or urban hip hop.
“The music that I’m working on now and the music like Dusk to Dawn, it was very much, how far can I go deep into the shadows? Like, what can I dig up about my artistry, what do I want these people to feel? And when I was writing this music, I had come out of a long-distance relationship, I happened to just tear my ACL, my parents weren’t in the best position in their lives, and I felt like, as a young man when you’re going through all this and you’re kinda by yourself, just putting it into my music was the only thing that felt natural for me. So it wasn’t ever forced, I was just a fan of [Carl Jung’s] work and I felt like it resonated with me.”
It’s admirable the way Boslen took a deep dive into navigating his emotions, but even more so how he chose to be vulnerable in sharing them and disciplined enough to channel all that cathartic energy he had excavated from his personal darkness into art.
And while much of art is left to the interpretation of the viewer (or listener), it seems Boslen wants to make sure at least one point is clearly understood, and that’s to show kids, especially young men like himself, that vulnerability and self-empowerment can coexist.
“Growing up, I was raised by a single mom for a bit before my stepdad came into the picture, and just getting closer to her emotional side, that’s what really opened me up to being comfortable talking about my emotions or crying as a kid. I think that bled into my work, ultimately.
“On this project, there was a lot of dark vulnerable times, but the spikes of empowerment, like on the ending of ‘Dawn’ or ‘Vultures’ where that type of swagger, that type of empowerment that is felt through the production and the words at the same time, that’s what I was trying to claw at.
“I think the balance of vulnerability and self-empowerment, that’s the toughest thing that a lot of people deal with that feel isolated or feel like they can’t really talk to anybody about because putting that chip on your shoulder and keeping those dark thoughts to yourself, a lot of kids deal with that and it’s very lonely going through high school or going through middle school in such a judgmental space – it’s tough to truly be yourself. So I felt as someone that now has a voice in a way, making that normalized in culture, especially in hip hop, I feel like is so important.”
Today, Boslen’s final visual treatment for the Dusk to Dawn project drops, a music video for “Nightfall,” a song that serves as the midpoint – and one of the emotional centerpieces – of his immersive debut album. The loneliness he conveys through the lyrics combined with the setting of an empty, lavish mansion creates the perfect imagery of what it might feel like to be trapped in the dark underworld of your own head.
“On the creative side we really wanted to dive into some meaning. I really just wanted to build this world, from the branding to the music to the sonics to the rollout, to even how the trailer and the music videos are connected through chronological order. I wanted to tell a story that these kids can look back and find their own reason to relate to the music.”
The moody “Nightfall” video, directed by Mike Tate and executive produced by Natasha Dion, was filmed here in Los Angeles. It also features rising South Carolina artist Dro Kenji. “I was happy enough to get in LA and actually work with him in studio on the song, so that was a lot of fun. He was like a ball of joy, man, that guy is crazy!” Boslen recalls.
As Boslen closes out the Dusk to Dawn era with “Nightfall”’s cinematic visual, we are left with a body of work that is timeless, with themes embedded about manhood, vulnerability and self-empowerment emboldened by a theory that seeks to “romance the shadow,” a phrase we ascribe to modern-day psychoanalyst and author Connie Zweig.
It may be a dark place, but there is beauty in the shadow. And being the keen, visionary artist that he is, Boslen understands this, and with continued intention he’ll be capturing its beauty in his music for years to come.
“I feel like I’m only just cracking the door open with Dusk to Dawn,” he says. “Because the music that I’m making now and already the thoughts I have about the direction I want to go with my music, it’s on a different level, and I’m very excited to share it.”
