Kryptozoology

Hello everyone, it’s ThatBoiCarter, and today I wanted to do something a little different. Instead of a music and movie review, I decided to change things up this week. For some context, on July sixth I dropped my mixtape “KRYPTOZOOLOGY,” a follow up to my previous mixtape “KRYPTO CHRONIC.” Unlike “KRYPTO CHRONIC,” however, this tape was much more story-oriented instead of just rapping for the sake of rapping. The underlying story can become a bit confusing on some songs, so today I am going to go track by track and do a deeper dive into the storyline and lyrics behind “KRYPTOZOOLOGY”. I created several different characters for this project and each song helps further establish their lore. Throughout this installment of the Kryptid Chronicles, I am going to explain these characters, their motives, and what they stand for.

The first character is griffin, an anti hero type figure who is loosely based on the main antagonist in the 1933 movie “The Invisible Man”. He and his cat French engage in strange experiments on a deserted island, isolating themselves from the rest of the world. Griffin, however, makes his return to the mainland to reunite with his old friend, CK. CK is a pretty normal dude who spends his days writing and rapping. He met griffin during the beginning of high school, but only knew him for a bit before he ran away. They reunite during a cipher in the title track (using the beat “Jumping Coffin by Aesop Rock) and CK asks griffin about the reasons for his strange actions and experiments. He goes further into detail about his plans in the second track, Griffins revenge (produced by MF DOOM “Shallots”). He describes his ambitions of wreaking havoc on those opposed to his plans and talks about his distain for a majority of current mainstream society, such as other suburbanites posing as gangsters and the superficial nature of most popular music. On the next song, CK isolates himself from everyone else while smoking and reflecting on his current place in life. (Beat used- Offline by Cannon Kyle) The song takes inspiration from the introspective lyrics of artists such as Earl Sweatshirt and discusses themes of internal struggle and lacking confidence, as well as using superficial means to escape uncomfortable predicaments in life. The following track, “Welcome to the Cemetery”, takes place at an open mic night where Griffin raps braggadocios over a Madlib beat (Eternal Broadcaster).

Coming with an aggressive lyrical style, he seeks to solidify himself as a real rapper and not just some gimmicky pop act. After this, we get a song from the perspective of Jack Dillinger, a former police detective who ends up opening a private detective firm with the intent of taking on organized crime in the government. The beat used (Crystal Sword, Aes Rock) reflects the dark and moody atmosphere of the 1940s noir-inspired themes. Dillinger’s character is abrasive, angry, and bitter, but he knows right from wrong and seeks to take down those who take advantage of the underdogs in the city, from beat cops abusing power to top ranking politicians in the pockets of mobsters. “War of the worlds” takes place in the distant future where aliens and humans are at war with each other. The lyrics describe the turmoil and chaos of interplanetary warfare from the perspective of the extraterrestrial invaders. Over the dark MF DOOM beat Mullein, the invaders show their disregard for human life and expose desires for colonizing earth after exterminating the populous. After that, Griffin meets up with Cannon, a fellow musician, and together, over the instrumental to Whoa by Earl Sweatshirt, they rap chaotically about causing trouble along with themes of religion and the start of humanity. After this, Griffin rap’s sarcastically over “Offbeat (groove)” by madlib from the perspective of his pet cat, French, after imagining an incident where the kitten gets her paws on a loaded handgun and causes havoc. This lighthearted track is only a minute long and incorporates clever wordplay and sarcastic/over the top lyrics. Following this, we go back to the perspective of CK on the track “maybe tomorrow”, featuring an original beat produced by Steve the landlord. CK finds himself facing writers block and a lack of inspiration while relying excessively on mind altering substances to rediscover his creativity. After this, on the self produced track “sideways”, CK takes a break from trying to figure something out music-wise and reflects on his past creative endeavors in music, as well as his current position and where he is yet to go. He overcomes his lack of confidence and personal struggles to fuel his passion for the art he makes, not letting others critiques bother or discourage him. It’s a track about personal triumph and pursuing what you love without worrying about judgement.

Overall, I had a fun time making this project. This was different than the projects I had done before because I feel like there’s so much more to it than meets the eye (or ear, I should say). I treated this album almost as if I was writing a book, with detailed descriptions of the storylines and characters who were heavily based off of myself (with obvious alterations, of course). In my personal opinion, this is my strongest and most creative project I’ve released yet.

Thank you for reading this installment and please come back next week if you enjoyed the read. Thanks for all the support.

-Carter