美国国家公共电台 NPR--6LACK is in a happier place. He wants to show his fans how to get there too

6LACK is in a happier place. He wants to show his fans how to get there too

Transcript¹

The R&B singer 6LACK's (pronounced "black") music is synonymous with heartbreak and messy relationships. Unstable² partners, repeated calls from your exes, he's lived – and sung, about it all.

And the 30-year-old artist has made a pretty good career of it. He's been nominated for three Grammys, and his previous two albums, Free 6LACK and East Atlanta Love Letter, both charted on Billboard³ 200.

But 6LACK's latest album, Since I Have A Lover, released on March 24th, is a sharp turn away from that material. He's happier and healthier. He sings about going to therapy, learning to communicate and controlling his ego⁴.

"Creatively, I used to lean on the crutch⁵ of turmoil⁶, heartbreak and disappointment. And sometimes it becomes almost a fetish to create from that place," 6LACK tells Morning Edition's Leila Fadel. "But I've finally reached a point in my life where that's just not where I am and it's not where I want to be."

In this interview, 6LACK shares new details about his personal growth, his relationship with social media and his desire to share the lessons he has learned with his fans.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. To hear the broadcast version of this conversation, use the audio player at the top of this page.

Interview Q&A

How did you get to this happier place? What brought you here?

I got to this place by almost sabotaging⁷ everything I had worked for in my personal life. I can communicate emotionally well with music. But in my personal life, I was struggling with things that almost felt like too easy for it to be that hard. I just wasn't like listening to myself when I would tell myself that there's an easier way to deal with what's going on in my relationship. There's an easier way to deal with, like the emotions that I haven't processed since my first tour. So I got a therapist, and that was the beginning of this process of getting to the source of the issues.

Before you actually started therapy, had you been hesitant about it at all?

I wouldn't say that I was against therapy. I would say that I procrastinated⁸ a little bit. It was like I knew that the resource was there and I was open to it. But I also was still operating from a space of arrogance⁹ and ego where it's like, I know I can do this myself. I can handle it on my own. And then I would mess up again.

What do you mean by mess up?

It's something as simple as I'm having a tough week because I'm away from my daughter and I'm feeling the pressure of everything online, and it's starting to affect my mood. I would just deal with it internally, and then somebody would say something as simple as I didn't get the mail you asked for, and that would just turn into a whole moment, and not necessarily because they didn't do what I asked. But I'm just feeling so much that now that you say something I don't agree with, it's just more dramatic than it has to be.

LF: So you're sort of suppressing your feelings around this other stuff and then reacting?

6LACK: Yeah, reacting and lashing¹⁰ out in moments where I just don't have to.

LF: You also wanted your lessons learned to be something you also impart through your music to the people who listen.

6LACK: Yes. I make music for the sole purpose of helping¹¹ myself through the situation that I'm in so that I don't have to repeat any lessons and helping the people who listen to my music get to a better space of being.

What's it like to have this out in the world?

It's the biggest weight off my shoulders. I feel a million times lighter¹² than I felt last year. It feels good to have another like child that I get to drop off into the world and watch it grow, and to take it on tour and see how it affects people. The last two tours I couldn't leave the shows feeling like I had done a lot for myself. I felt like I was doing a lot for other people. And those moods, those songs, and those feelings didn't bring me to a place of peace. And that's not to say that, things will always be amazing from here on out. But I'm aware of the work it takes to make it as amazing as I want it to be.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

3 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

4 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

5 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

6 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

7 sabotaging   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Smith fiercely denied any question of sabotaging the talks. 史密斯先生坚决拒绝任何企图阻挠谈话的提问。
• Failed in sabotaging APEC summit in Sydney of Australia. 澳大利亚悉尼APEC会议遭遇惨败。

8 procrastinated   

拖延，耽搁( procrastinate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She procrastinated her return. 她拖延了归期。
• He procrastinated until it was too late to do anything at all. 他因循坐误，一事无成。

9 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

10 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。