After therapy, just be hot
Ask for help before you have to ask for forgiveness, is the hardest lesson I’m learning in my adult life. The help I’m receiving is of the psychiatric nature these days. Before this year, I didn’t realize just how sought after psychiatrists were, but I soon learned when I had to book a session six weeks in advance! In general, my sessions are emotionally tumultuous, leaving me cracked open like an egg on a Sunday morning. I do not plan to detail my therapy experience, however. That’s personal. Nevertheless, there are some things I can share to get yourself out of the post-session blues.
You’ve spilled your guts to your mental healthcare worker. Soiled tissues with your tears and snot tossed into the rubbish bin. Eyes puffy, breath shaky, and your head a little sore. It helps to consider just being hot, and personally that is best achieved by listening to music that makes me feel hot. In this moment, I’m not looking for someone to tell me “everything’s going to be okay” or an affirmation of my beauty. No. I just want to feel hot. The same can be said for my sentiments after my first psychiatrist visit.
Gunna’s album, DS4Ever, recently dropped and ever since everyone has been “Pushing P”. He explained the phrase in relative detail on The Breakfast Club. However, it wasn’t that song that made me feel my most powerful - instead it was “P power” featuring Drake. Thereafter, when I first heard “Came and Saw” featuring Rowdy Rich I felt like I had closed an impossible deal. The inclusion of Future’s “First Off” featuring Travis Scott has everything to do with the fact that I listened to that track every morning on my way to a job I had to mentally prepare myself to enter (we can get into that another time).
The hero track of this playlist is by none other than Stephen of Kent, “Pray For Me”. This track debuted in 2019 as the final track of his Neo Sapien EP, which recently celebrated its 3-year anniversary. Sonic motifs throughout the project are reminiscent of Kanye West’s Yeezus, without necessarily feeling like a bite, but more an homage, while Stephen still put his own spin on it.
The beauty of Stephen of Kent is in his commitment to performance art, hence the experiential nature of coming into contact with his music, his visuals and his live performances. In December 2021, I had the pleasure of seeing him perform at Good Morning, an Until Until brunch concert, where he performed unreleased music. If what I heard during his set is anything to go by, I am sure to enjoy the new music just as much as I’ve enjoyed Neo Sapien. However, for the time being, whenever I need a “pick me up”, I’m streaming just be hot.