MAVI Looks Inward on 'shadowbox'
“read the lyrics, listen all in order, quiet and in the dark. it’s okay to cry!”
MAVI has made his return. After months of ensuring “MAVI is making an album” on Instagram, shadowbox has finally surfaced, and the LP finds the rapper diving into the depths of his past to present his most introspective offering yet.
Across the album’s 14 tracks, MAVI keeps it raw and real, exploring his own once-unearthed emotions. On “drown the snake” – which blends perfectly into standout single “drunk prayer” – he cuts the music to speak more directly about the themes of shadowbox.
“You know how you talk about, like, that inner child? Like, with that inner child, bro, like, there is a demon that grew up with that n*gga, bro. Like, I used to see shadows in my room all the time when I was a kid, bro,” he explains.
A press release notes that in addition to exploring his own once-unearthed emotions, MAVI also found significant inspiration for shadowbox in his time spent in art museums during the project’s creation.
“thank you, god for a life that teaches, and for a teachers who give me life. i touched the lowest lows yet making this. i needed this, and i needed you. thank you. i am your friend, and i live and die for your love, -omavi ammu (and his shadow),” he wrote on Instagram.
“read the lyrics, listen all in order, quiet and in the dark. it’s okay to cry!
Stream shadowbox – out everywhere now.