6lack released his new album, Love is the New Gangsta, on Friday. The rollout began with three songs that represent different stages of love: “Bird Flu,” “Sunday Again” featuring 2 Chainz and “Ashin the Blunt” with Young Thug.
He tells ABC Audio “Bird Flu” was the first song that made him realize he was creating an album.
“It was me finding my voice again,” he says. “I wanted to talk about what I’m struggling with, what I’ve overcome and what I care about.”
He says the song’s stripped-back production allowed listeners to focus on the lyrics, noting, “It was just me, the beat, the lyrics, and that’s it.”
“Sunday Again,” a collaboration with 2 Chainz, followed. He thought of a few artists to feature on the project, but eventually decided to lean into his Atlanta roots. “I wanted to go home,” 6lack tells ABC Audio. “We normally hear Chainz in a party atmosphere, but I wanted to put him in this setting.”
He says it’s one of his favorite songs on the album because it “feels like a hug.”
The third song, “Ashin the Blunt,” which leaked years before its official release, was a song 6lack kept returning to because of how deeply it resonated with him and his guest feature, Young Thug.
“It speaks to what [he went] through, it speaks to what I’ve gone through,” he says. “I couldn’t imagine anybody else being on that song.”
Together, the three songs represent confinement, insecurity and commitment in relationships.
“The overall message is I choose love,” 6lack says of the album.
The project also features his latest single, “All That Matters,” featuring Leon Thomas. The music video is now available to watch on YouTube.
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