With release of 'Tarot' EP, WZRDBLVK is channeling energy from an array of genres for his new sound
When WZRDBLVK (pronounced Wizard Black) was featured in our sprawling Savannah hip-hop story last month based on the strength of his burgeoning rap output, who could have predicted the direction his music would take on his upcoming EP, “Tarot”?
WZBRDBLVK, whose real name is Ijtihad Muhammad, came up in the Savannah dance crew, Unrated, with his brother Bak, aka Really Khalil. Really Khalil’s album, “Love Matters” was voted best local album in 2020. The brothers often collaborate on music like in the futuristic Shaunii Rawls-directed video for “HEATWAVE,” but the two artists definitely have their own sounds.
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“He’s the only person I could do a natural collaboration with,” said WZRDBLVK of working with Really Khalil. “We kind of made a decision that we’re not going to necessarily do the whole group thing, but be independent artists. We’ll always work with each other because we’re brothers and at the end of the day we make dope music.”
Although most of his music found on Soundcloud and other streaming services would be categorized as rap, WZRDBLVK is now drawing from different inspirations and using a new palette with his latest project.
“It’s more so like I’m coming home, which is weird,” WZRDBLVK said of his dramatically different new music, which leans more heavily on rock, alternative, pop, and dance music.
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Growing up, WZRDBLVK’s parents restricted the type of media he was allowed to consume so his exposure to hip-hop was limited to sneaking a listen to the occasional Eminem or Jay-Z song on the radio.
“If it was too explicit, we wouldn’t see it, as children,” said WZRDBLVK. “When it came to what we listened to as music, a lot of the hip-hop in there was mostly old school, R&B, funk, the golden records we know. Then rock. That was me trying to find my own music to listen to within the parameters of what I was allowed to listen to. It was a lot rock, pop, stuff you would hear across movies. We’re a big movie family.”
Movie soundtracks, like the high energy and eclectic songs found in Quentin Tarantino movies, are what really influenced WZRDBLVK on his new EP. One standout track on “Tarot” is the funky “Temptation,” which is built upon a hopping guitar riff and vocal cadence inspired by both Heart’s “Barracuda” and the song “Barracuda” by the Japanese band the 5 6 7 8s (who are featured in Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”).
“I kind of melded sounds from both of those in really the way I pronounce the words and the energy I bring on it,” said WZRDBLVK. “All because that guitar riff reminded me of both of those songs at the same time.”
The five tracks on “Tarot” are named after different cards from the deck.
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“Each song, all of that was what I was going through when I used to dabble with Tarot cards,” WZRDBLVK explained. “The whole thing with the crystals and the cards and candles, and all the stuff, just searching as a human. I feel like we all do it growing up, we all search, we all try to find whatever we’re looking for.”
While he was using the tarot cards, WZRDBLVK could see a significant shift in his personal life and the way he perceived himself and his world, whether it was necessarily right or wrong, particularly when it came to relationships. Much of the discoveries he made about himself using tarot cards can be heard in his new songs, like “Temptation” for example, which is about infidelity.
“That’s a really crazy one for me because I’m pretty much explaining what drove me, or what played a part in my decision to cheat on a relationship, which is something we all know is super taboo,” said WZRDBLVK. “It’s something nobody talks about. That thing that is looming over us all, but nobody really pops that bubble, so I feel like I popped that bubble with that.
“That’s something that I do feel the tarot cards, and the energy, and everything involved with that, it played a big part in the decisions I was making and everything I was doing. It was just a lot. It’s the start of a journey I’m going to take my listeners on.”
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Built from an assemblage of samples culled from YouTube, each song on “Tarot” draws from an eclectic mix of genres, but all with big hooks and catchy, danceable beats. “The Star” sounds like a dimly lit dance floor. “The Fool” is an energetic radio-ready pop confection. “The Tower” features piano stabs more commonly found in 90s House music. Closer “Salvation,” with it’s driving Peter Hook-like bass line, has a dark new wave edge, like early New Order.
WZRDBLVK recently performed the “Tarot” in its entirety at a music showcase and was excited by the feedback it received from his audience.
“They were dancing,” said WZRDBLVK. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen people dance to my music which was crazy. That’s what’s driving to want to make music like this more. I want people to be able to dance to it and I want to be able to dance to it.”
As of publication, the release date for “Tarot” has been pushed back while WZRDBLVK and his producer add more polish and real instruments to the mix. Although he has released an abundance of music up to now, WZRDBLVK considers “Tarot” his true debut and wants to make sure it is as perfect as it can be.
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“I really don’t try to throw myself out there because I believe that when it’s time, and when I’m really moving at my optimal level, and making the music that I’m supposed to be making, music that reaches out to others, it will inspire them. I guess the work that I’ve done before is really just me jumping up that ladder. Every song that I do, there is something new that I notice I did right. Each song is just practice, practice, practice until it’s what I know to be music, truly music, and that’s what I feel like 'Tarot' finally came out to be.”
The first single off of “Tarot” will be released at the end of September and the full EP will be out next month. In the meantime, check out the video preview of “Tarot” on YouTube.