New Orleans singer, songwriter, producer and multidisciplinary artist Dawn Richard releases her new album, Creole Culture, via Merge Records. In conjunction, she unveils the video for album standout, “only fans,” directed by award-winning choreographer, creative director, and filmmaker Lyrik London. The visual uses satire, performance, choreography, and a dystopian version of New Orleans to explore the world of Creole Culture.
Richard reflects: “‘only fans’ plays with the idea of spectatorship and the reality of what it means to be an artist, especially an independent artist, in a world where you are constantly being watched, analyzed, copied, discussed, and scrutinized. The title is an intentional play on the idea behind platforms like OnlyFans, where people can place a value on access to themselves and charge spectators for their attention. Artists, on the other hand, can have thousands of people watching their every move, consuming their work, forming opinions, critiquing their choices, and even borrowing from their ideas—often without the artist ever being compensated for that attention. ‘only fans’ flips that dynamic: if you’re going to watch me, study me, copy me, talk about me, and have an opinion about everything I do, maybe you should have to pay for the view.”
Creole Culture is triumphant and tragic, sexy and mournful, braggadocious and contemplative. The album presents Richard’s New Orleans as a utopian soundscape — an intoxicating blend of R&B, soul, hip-hop, pop, and jazz — that’s survived and thrived despite the dystopian circumstances visited upon it.
Across Creole Culture, Richard worked with co-executive producer Katalyst, the Inglewood-based collective founded by drummer and producer Greg Paul. Comprised of world-class composers, producers, and instrumentalists who have collaborated with artists including Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Solange, Jay-Z, Lizzo, Usher, and Anderson .Paak, Katalyst brings an unmistakable musical depth expanding Creole Culture’s vision beyond genre.
With a crew of guest stars including Big Freedia, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, and Durand Bernarr, Creole Culture offers a softer take on the brass-soaked swagger of Richard’s previous efforts, an evolution brought about upon realizing a crucial viewpoint was left out of her exploration of New Orleans: her own. Creole Culture creates a space where Richard can breathe, can be at peace with herself, and let loose with others—it’s a tremendous, freeing breath of fresh air. It captures the resolve of a woman and a place who’ve survived the unimaginable and sees the future not as something to be endured, but as something to be created.
1. a creole culture intro (feat. big freedia)
2. enough
3. only fans
4. chuuuuurch (feat. jelly joseph)
5. groove city (feat. frank richard of chocolate milk)
6. l v r (feat. tarriona ‘tank’ ball)
7. pilates
8. baby, can we? (feat. durand bernarr)
9. motives
10. fiesta
11. faith in the fire