Album Review: Saint Bodhi Escorts Yo To Her “Mad World”
Saint Bodhi is living in a Mad World, and, frankly, so are we all. Anyone else feeling pandemic brain or election anxiety? The tragedy is that our lives have become heightened by what feels like surreal forces, but, for many, such forces are not that different from their usual ones. Sure, life can always go even more wrong, but, for some, life is not about the rights that go wrong but the wrongs that you fight to make right until you feel you have given you all. In my previous interview with Saint Bodhi, she discussed being a “flower child” born from concrete. #subtletupacreferences Mad World is her debut album and total description of the clash between harsh realities and soft dreams.
Funny! We always say things like, “harsh realities” but never claim “soft dreams.” From “Pray” to “Blessed,” Saint Bodhi helps listeners realize that the reason we dream is because we want softness. We WANT our lives to not only feel simpler or easier but also gentler. It would be nice to wake up in a mansion with cool cars, but it would be really great to wake up and feel safe in our own skin: loving ourselves and admiring our surroundings. Mansions don’t necessarily equate that but they do carry that symbolism, especially if you are growing up in streets that know poverty, violence, and the struggle between enjoying your life and wishing you had another one.
Lyrically, Saint Bodhi truly is a “bodhi.” She is aiming for that nirvana, and has the beats to back her up on her path. There is an ethereal, spiritual frequency to her rhythms that feels similar to how Jhene Aiko used singing bowls and crystals in her recent album Chilombo. Saint Bodhi whips our the flutes and bells to give a mystical twinkle to sonic backdrops, but also has no problem dropping a cop siren or gunshot in the background. The result is an album that embodies how we are always aiming for enlightenment, even when in the darkest places.
Saint Bodhi – Gold Revolver (Animated)
Vocally, Saint Bodhi understands that rappers are, in some ways, character actors. I am not saying that to be facetious, but rappers and literary narrators have a lot in common. They play with their voices to wrap up their audiences and help them see what they are, technically, just saying. Saint Bodhi helps you see her Mad World, but also shows you that she is genuinely trying to go from local to universal, which makes her special. While most of us aim to go global, riding around the world with fame, money, and tech gadgets, she wants that but also wants her zen.
