Backxwash — HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING — Album Review
Alternative | Metal | Hip-Hop
Listen on Bandcamp | Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Damn; I think that might be the longest album review title I’ve ever written. But I digress; here we have a (slightly late) review of this newest album from Backxwash.
For those of you who are new to the Backxwash name, it is the musical project of Ashanti Mutinta, a Zambia-born, Montreal-based transgender female rap artist.
I discovered Backxwash through the 2020 album, titled God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It, a truly phenomenal piece that really set this artist apart in that musical year. The album was undeniably dark, and shed light on a lot of important sub-topics, with the abuse of religion as the primary focal point.
While being “anti-christian” would be a shallow way of putting it, a better way of describing what made an album like God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It, would be that Backwash is spreading awareness of the damage that religion can cause, when channeled through corrupt minds. It felt like a topic that very few artists would be brave enough to tackle. Backxwash, however, tackled it in style; not once, not twice, but now three times, with the release of this brand new album.
HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING is essentially the third (and apparently final) instalment of the dark trilogy of albums Backxwash has put out. Of course, I mustn’t forget to mention the second album in this trilogy, 2021’s I LIE HERE BURIED IN MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES. Though that second album did sound a little bit more consistent than the album that came before it, in regards to the tracks, it still stood as another amazing album all the same, and was well-deserving of the praise it received, much like the first.
But how does this third chapter stack up? Well, this is where I initially faced a bit of a dilemma.
I had to wait a little while longer than those using Bandcamp to give this album the proper listen it deserved. I recall I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES going through the same thing. In short, this album came out on Bandcamp prior to the other music streaming services (including my regrettable choice, Spotify).
Nevertheless, HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING was well worth that short wait!
I guess I’ll go through the narrative side of things first for once. I’ve dabbled a little bit into what the primary focal points are that power this triology of albums. While God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It had a more obvious focus on the religious aspect, in which certain people that abuse the privileges given to them by religion, put others down, setting into motion a vicious cycle of self loathing, I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES felt like a more introspective piece that shed light on drug addiction, and suicidal thoughts.
Where HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING stands, is that it is a combination of these two themes. In a twisted eureka moment, the whole point of these three albums overall, is made clear as day through this third instalment. With the abuse of religion driving minorities towards self loathing, and Backxwash’s own struggles with her race and gender identity, that seems to be the overall message that Backxwash has wanted to convey from the very start of this trilogy.
Moving on to the atmospheric and musical qualities, there’s no bad words to say about it honestly; it is mind-blowing! The super-dark aesthetic that made me fall in love with Backxwash’s music in the first place is cranked up to the full, along with some truly ingenious production, splendid features, and even a few twists and turns throughout the record (the most obvious example of such being the oddly soulful sound of the final track, with enough distortion to let us know that it is still a Backxwash album we’re listening to).
I genuinely don’t think there would have been a better way to conclude this phenomenal trilogy of albums than with HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING. It goes without saying, but it is an absolute masterpiece, and a impactfully dark one of that!
Favourite Tracks: VIBANDA | NYAMA | MUZUNGU | ZIGOLO | MUKAZI
Ugly Hag Records
