A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Check out the way this new song begins.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAGNETIC")
TUNDE ADEBIMPE: (Singing) I was thinking about my time in space. I was thinking about the human race in the age of tenderness and rage.
MARTÍNEZ: I was thinking about the human race in the age of tenderness and rage.
I'm guessing he's not alone.
ADEBIMPE: I think that a lot of kindness is needed right now. A lot of courage is needed right now. A lot of honesty and a lot of willingness to point out dishonesty can make things better. You know, if kindness was a badge of honor, that might work out.
MARTÍNEZ: This very kind man is Tunde Adebimpe, and the song is called "Magnetic."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MAGNETIC")
ADEBIMPE: (Singing) You're magnetic, dope synthesizer. You've been down, but you're going to get higher. Part of the skill is doing loops in the fire. What they going to do with a lightning rider?
MARTÍNEZ: Adebimpe is a founding member of the band TV on the Radio. At the beginning of the 2000s, they were part of an explosion of talented rock bands coming out of Brooklyn. Adebimpe is releasing his first solo album tomorrow. It's called "Thee Black Boltz." He says he wrote most of the music at a time when the band was on an extended and much-needed break.
ADEBIMPE: Putting records out and touring for the better part of, like, you know, almost two decades - there was just a point that I felt like I didn't have enough time away from it to appreciate what we were doing.
MARTÍNEZ: You know, it's funny to hear you say that because I think for a lot of people, when they think of a musician, their art - that's your refuge. But you're saying that you needed some time apart.
ADEBIMPE: Oh, sure. And, you know, that's - one of the scariest things is when, like you said, your refuge becomes a place where you're just like, I got to get out of here.
(LAUGHTER)
ADEBIMPE: I don't know why I'm here. I don't know what I'm doing this for. A lot of this record was about rediscovering what I liked about making music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GOD KNOWS")
ADEBIMPE: (Singing) God knows you're the worst thing I ever loved.
MARTÍNEZ: Tunde Adebimpe says making music without his longtime bandmates was nerve-racking.
ADEBIMPE: You've got this engine of anxiety that's just kind of like, well, don't mess this up. It's like, everything's good.
MARTÍNEZ: Engine of anxiety. I love that.
ADEBIMPE: Oh, yeah, completely. Just don't - I was talking to a friend of mine who's an actor. And he said, everything is - it's just humiliation management. And this is someone who I was like, you're so good at what you do. He's like, it's all humiliation management. No matter what kind of technique you have, no matter how prepared you are, it's just - the kernel at the bottom of it is just, like, I just don't want to mess this up.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DROP")
ADEBIMPE: (Beatboxing).
MARTÍNEZ: Now, the song "Drop" - that one seems to be about a man pondering death.
ADEBIMPE: Definitely. It's about realizing that we've only got a short amount of time here. And what do you do with that time? Do you help out? Do you hurt?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DROP")
ADEBIMPE: (Singing) But will I feel it when I drop? Restless hours, the ticking of a clock.
MARTÍNEZ: You just turned 50.
ADEBIMPE: I sure did.
MARTÍNEZ: So when I turned 50, I started hearing the ticking of a clock.
ADEBIMPE: I think I've probably been thinking like that maybe since I was 20.
(LAUGHTER)
ADEBIMPE: Just going like, oh, yeah. This is not forever. But during this record and kind of preceding this record, I lost a lot of people who were very close to me. And this older person was saying, you know, not, how old were they when they died? They said, how many years did you get with them? Which is a really beautiful way to kind of...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
ADEBIMPE: ...Think about it, too. How much time do we get with each other?
MARTÍNEZ: I read that your sister passed away while you were making this album. Are...
ADEBIMPE: She did.
MARTÍNEZ: ...You OK with talking about that?
ADEBIMPE: I can talk about it a little bit. Sure.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. I mean, just tell me about her.
ADEBIMPE: She was just, you know, easily the closest person to me. She worked as a - her last job was as an Imagineer at Disney.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, wow.
ADEBIMPE: Yeah, she did stuff for the parks. And she passed away very suddenly. She was 41. And this was, you know, like, 2021, but it was kind of, like, still very pandemic-y. So I had to kind of, like, handle all of these arrangements. You know, the rest of my family is not in the country, so I kind of had to do all of this stuff...
MARTÍNEZ: It's on you, all of it.
ADEBIMPE: ...By myself.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
ADEBIMPE: And you have to set up a camera to do a Zoom funeral, like, in the course of a week. But, you know...
MARTÍNEZ: (Sighing).
ADEBIMPE: ...I don't know how shortly after - it seemed like fairly shortly after - I kind of thought, like a lot of other losses, like, the best way for me to process a lot of that stuff is to make music or make art. And I definitely know the chi of someone who was also an artist. That's what she would want me to be doing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ILY")
ADEBIMPE: (Singing) I love you.
MARTÍNEZ: There's a song for her on this album, right? It's...
ADEBIMPE: Yep.
MARTÍNEZ: ...Spelled I-L-Y. I wasn't sure how to say it or pronounce it, but is - any chance the ILY stands for, I love you?
ADEBIMPE: Absolutely does.
MARTÍNEZ: OK.
ADEBIMPE: Yeah. That's a real simple and powerful sentiment.
MARTÍNEZ: You know, we were talking about this earlier - how the world is. I don't know if we say that enough to people.
ADEBIMPE: I don't know that we do. I say that to all of my friends every time I say goodbye to someone, even if it's awkward (laughter). I just say it 'cause I'm just like, I want you to know, you know, if this is the last time we see each other, the true thing about us being together is that I do love you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ILY")
ADEBIMPE: (Singing) And should tomorrow come and catch us in a lie, I would so gladly fall beside you. Yeah, I love you.
Someone told me this a while ago. And I don't know if it's true, but they said, you know, nothing really bad can ever happen to you if you can write about it. And I kind of...
(LAUGHTER)
ADEBIMPE: I was sort of like, yeah, I guess. You know, and they said, well, because then you have a lesson that you can pass on to someone else or just, you know - I definitely know there are pieces of music or stories that have come from someone who died, you know, a century...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
ADEBIMPE: ...Before I was born that have helped me out, where I'm just like, oh, right. Yeah, you're allowed to feel that. That's not just me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ILY")
ADEBIMPE: (Singing) Let's wait for the stars to shine, so maybe we can see it better.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Tunde Adebimpe. His first solo album apart from TV on the Radio is called "Thee Black Boltz." Tunde, thank you very much.
ADEBIMPE: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ILY")
ADEBIMPE: (Singing) No, I love you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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