Chester Watson from the Black Lagoon
Fast forward a decade, and Chester Watson continues to make waves in the music scene. He has established himself as an Afrosurrealist, tapping into the intrinsic groove that resonates within Black cultures across the globe. With his latest album, "fish don't climb trees," Chester carries on the centuries-long narrative of Black individuals existing beneath the water's surface, amidst the vibrant flora and fauna. It's a surreal palette that he masterfully paints, yet "fish don't climb trees" also represents his most grounded and introspective work to date. Describing it as a cosmic descent, Chester invites listeners into a transcendent journey through his music.
office said down with Chester to discuss the importance of subtlety, consistency and his love for his fans. Step into the psyche of one of Rap’s most unique artists.
Nice to meet you. How are you?
Good. How are you?
Good. Good. I actually used to talk to you a little bit on Tumblr man. So it's like, wow. 10 years later man, I was bumping you back in like 2013.
Yeah, I lost that old Tumblr. I'm kind of sick about that. But that's crazy that you actually were tapping in on that one.
What have you been up to since you last dropped in 2021?
I’ve been trying to figure out how to package my vision and message, the right way to put it together. I’ve been finding myself post pandemic, like most of us.
How do you feel your sound has evolved from "Phantom" to this latest album?
I've made a lot of moves since then, you know, in life and in music. With my last ep, 1997 I’m up in the clouds on the cover.
That's why on the new album cover, I'm a little closer to the ground. And that was me falling from the cosmos, the bars are a little closer to reality.
I can definitely see that from listening to the new album. Even in your earlier work, there’s so much surrealism and fantasy. How do you feel about being labeled as an Afro surrealist?
I take pride in it. I feel like that's definitely something that I try to push. I feel like Surrealism is closely tied to Europe and European artists.
Nothing against them, but there's always been surrealism in African art and art in general. I’m kind of like a continuation of that lineage.
Yeah, yeah. Talking about Africa and the ancestors, I peeped that Sun Ra sample. Who do you look to for guidance?
Definitely, Sun Ra. I really look to anyone under that avant garde umbrella. I tap into Sun Ra, Madlib, anything that sounds bugged out. They do a lot of percussion and African music is very percussion heavy.
I would say Latin music is very percussion heavy as well, especially, when it comes to vibe and groove. That groove is kind of native to us, that rhythm.
Walk me through your process? Is it intuitive?
Yeah, it's more like I experienced something and then I try to capture that in the best way possible. Life is very surreal.
Think about it like a camera. It's not about what you're shooting, it's about how you're shooting it. I want it to be relatable but I slightly tilt the angle and that’s what makes it surreal.
Subtlety is powerful. I think that's something I learned on this project.
I’m really tapping into this idea of subtlety with getting your ideas across. With fish don't climb trees what concepts and ideas do you want us to take away from it?
Well, honestly I want people to live with it. I want it to be a project that people build their own experience. I'm juggling things that pretty much everybody juggles. I’m thinking bout the song Money_ Love.
Money is this man made construct and love is very metaphysical. So I’m interested in these two concepts and how they interact with each other in the grand scheme of life.
Yeah, I was watching one of your old interviews, and I remember you talked about this idea of love being sacrifice. Do you feel like your definition of love is the same?
It’s definitely grown, I feel like I've always seen love as something that's very important and integral to growing.
In the last few years, I’ve learned the distinction between real love and fake love, as well. There's people who want to be a part of the love but for the wrong reasons and people who want to be a part of the community but for the wrong reasons.
Keying in on community and friends, what is the Nü Age Syndicate up to these days?
Man they’re chillin. So basically Kent’s working on something and it's really just me, Kent and Nick at this point. Nick still drawing and making art. He has a clothing line coming out. Kent’s working as he always is. Getting money, making music.
So it's just good to see everybody still kind of in the same mode, if not more, so in it. You know, 10 years later?
How does it feel listening to your old work 10 years later?
Ooo, different. Sometimes, I just turn it off. My girl she’ll be like, why did you turn that off? I'm like I don't know, it's not a bad song, but sometimes I’ll listen and just feel like wow, you wrote this at 15, 16, 17.
A lot of the shit that I wrote then I wouldn't write now, just because I'm not in that same headspace.
Do you have any favorite bars?
The song "Sweet" and "Bog Me Čuva" off Tin Wookie. Tin Wookie in general had a lot of hits. There’s some songs I look back on and just think, bro, how did you piece that together like that?
Let me look and see. I gotta look up my own lyrics, that’s crazy. "Purple leaves" is one of them. It's like damn, bro, the flows and the music behind it was just like, bro, you were really onto something with that.
Something that's really standing out today is this idea of consistency. How do you stay consistent in making music?
Staying consistent is just about knowing that your vision is right and knowing that what you're doing is true to who you are. Don’t get me wrong, it's okay to be selfish in music but at the end of the day, you have so many people who are invested in what you say and do.
You have to stay true to yourself, I feel like a lot of people lose sight of that.
You're really good at showing love to your fans, what kind of relationship do you have with them?
Ah Man, I try to maintain a good relationship with everybody, especially the people who support me and who really go hard for my word and my vision. I have one homie, they were a fan but we follow each other now and stay tapped in.
They got the A Japanese Horror Film samurai tatted on them. It's just like wow, bro, people are willing to endure pain for you. It’s realizing that they may have gone through pain to your music.
That goes to your earlier point of wanting this album to be something people live with. What does that look like for you?
Oh, man, for me that means literally having different favorite songs at different times. Right now I’ve been bumping this Larry June/Alchemist album and having different songs that are my go to.
That’s what I want for this album, that you’ll find a new love with a different song or a new love with the same song through whatever you may be going through.
What mindset were you in for different songs on albums?
So, yeah off the top. For "Fish Don_t Climb Trees", I made it after I saw my pops, he's a keyboardist and has worked with a lot of influential funk groups. He even worked with Three 6 Mafia.
I went to Memphis last year. So much music history there and Three 6 Mafia, rappers just rob them.
They’re just so influential, it's crazy. Like this man literally just got fuckin platinum records for that shit, and I'm just like bruh. My pops helped me clear the sample on that first song too, so that first song is really tied to my dad and our relationship. It really sets the tone for what to expect.
On "East End", I was on the east end in London and wanted to capture the moment. "Eyes Closed" is more of the build up and "Tourniquet" is like the explosion.
"Money_love" and "Bora Bora" are about exploring love and what that can mean. Then, "Daze" is really just a breather. That leads into "Gray Theory", which is about living in the gray area of reality.
"I Feel Alive", that one was actually the last song I made on the album. I made it after this trip with my girl to Florida. We sat for hours and watched the fireworks on the beach. T
hen, that goes into "Spirits" where it's like, alright, let's get back home safely. And then "Mirrors" is kind of just a lead into whatever’s next.
Thanks for going through every song, I know on "Mirror", you rap about revolution. What would a liberation album for Black people sound like?
A liberation album, it would have hella people on it. You know when you buy a world music vinyl, it would sound like that. It'd be a lot of crescendos, a lot of ups and downs.
But that's, you know, the Black existence in general. So I feel like it'd be very similar to that and try to convey that as accurately as possible.
I noticed the ear prosthetic in the last video “Eyes Closed”. What were some of your visual inspirations for the album?
The main visual inspiration was Creature from the Black Lagoon. It's very subtle, though. It's just like okay, he just got some weird ears on. But It's like, nah, it's a really deep horror nod. But it's crazy.
Because, technically, the Creature from the Black Lagoon is a fish that climbs trees. He's a fish out of water and can be on land.
Throughout history, so many people have nodded towards mermaids and fish people. I don't know where this story came from but there's this concept that the slaves who jumped off the ships turned into mermaids.
The electronic band Drexciya that's like their whole thing.
That's what it is. That's exactly what it is. Yeah. It’s deep rooted, and I just feel like I'm a continuation of that lineage. Right?
So talking about that continuation of lineage and homage. Is music part of your spiritual practice?
Yeah, for sure. Sometimes I'll make beats just to zone out to for hours and never release them. At this point, music is something I do religiously.
It's a powerful vessel, it’s a vibration. You're tuning yourself, you have to fine tune it until you get it right.
