Coming at us from Seattle, Washington, Inkwater is a solo Hip-Hop project who has just released a Hip-Hop anthem labeled “New Dark Age.”
His musical influences growing up were eclectic, and since then he has introduced ‘dark and melodic’ flavors into his music style.
Musician Josh Brown manages his visual art, songwriting, recording, mixing, and mastering. With Inkwater’s most recent single, he showcases his immense talent through his heated production and poetic lyricism. “New Dark Age” is not the type of song you would sit around and chill to.
This track has the energy level of a banger and therefore requires a stimulating atmosphere. The single kicks off with a mysterious atmosphere created by its electronically influenced production. A trap beat soon takes over with an emphasis on the bass and Inkwater introduces himself vocally. His quickly-paced rapping flows well with the beat and gives “New Dark Age” it’s ‘party anthem’ feel.
Through his introspective lyricism, Inkwater reflects on a perspective of life through the lens of depression, systemic racism, and battles with mental health. Inkwater showcases his vocal talent at the end of the song with a few verses sung with a soft voice, allowing the listener to wind down from the high that is “New Dark Age.”
Can you tell us about your lyrics for “New Dark Age,” and what message they represent? Why is it important for you to share this message?
New Dark Age is about the experience of having a depressive breakdown and how seeing America turn on its black citizens this year has exacerbated the trauma. I’ve dealt with mental illness for years, but This time it’s a FACT that nothing matters. Now it’s plain to see that death isn’t even the worst end we can face.
Could you tell us about the writing, recording, mixing, and mastering process of “New Dark Age?”
I recorded everything in my home and engineered everything myself. I had to do the whole thing on my own because I have no other choice. I feel like a loser saying it, but I don’t like relying on other people that much. It’s literally making yourself vulnerable for no reason. I truly know that I have too much control, but I’d feel like a burden pushing the responsibility onto someone else.
How does “New Dark Age” compare to the rest of your songs? How has your music evolved over time?
It’s leaning in the direction of what I’d like to make more of. The rest of my tracks are kind of following that standard, honestly. It’s one of those things where I wrote it in a depressive rut, and then the George Floyd protests started happening. It all meshed together and just became one thing. If anything, though, I’m aiming for more airtight lyricism. Words honestly never came easily to me, this is all an uphill battle.
Do you ever experience a ‘writer's block’ during your production processes? How do you overcome this?
Not during production. I’ve been producing instrumentals for a decade at this point and I can knock out a track in an hour or less. It’s mainly that I get stuck refining. It’s hard to get to that phase where everything licks in and makes perfect emotional sense.
What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
Not much. It’s been difficult even taking care of my health this year. My mental health isn’t great. Still, little things really help. Rewatching the Last Airbender series and trying to collaborate with artist friends has been making the effort worth it. I’m hoping for more of that for sure.