"I couldn't expect that my dream would be designed, given or created for me. I had to learn to create my own path outside of expectations, assumptions, and prejudices." - Fadil Cantave
Hailing from Boston with beats finer than your grandmother's China is the 28-year-old emerging artist, HiFadility, a cosmic composer and crafter of soulful sounds. Fadil Cantave, born of Bernadette and Alix Cantave, has been honing in on his gift of manipulating sound for 24 years. Both raised in Haiti, Fadil's parents share a diverse background of Haitian and Dominican as well as Arawak, an indigenous people from the Caribbean. "My parents introduced me to various types of music and believed that studying world cultures promoted a healthy, well-rounded life," Fadil reflects. "They were adamant about cultural education and commitment to values which had a great impact on me and my process of creativity."
Cantave's new album Memoirs of a Traveling Soul fuses elements of Haitian folk music, afrobeat, hip hop, trip hop, Latin jazz, soul and electronica to create 10 velvety-smooth songs that are flawlessly mastered. Cantave explores inter-sonic dimensions and experimental soundscapes reminiscent of artists such as Flying Lotus and the late, J Dilla. Though comparable to these artists, HiFadility is truly one-of-a-kind as his album tells the tale of various cultures, from the oppressed to the liberated, from becoming enlightened to being enlightened, and the many challenges we face not as separated races, but as one human race.
"Racine" starts off the album with a spicy Latin melody that immediately raises the pulse until it smoothly transforms into a sexy hip hop beat. Meanwhile, a sampled speech punctuates the track with passionate statements about the people of Haiti, one of the many powerful messages this album conveys. The next track, "Boukman," showcases Cantave's skill at transforming old sounds into something new as he mixes classic voices with sensual trip top dynamics but then suddenly awakens the listeners with a fast-paced cumbia interlude. With every track, you travel without moving, see without looking, and feel without touching. You are taken on a sonic voyage through a timeless place where all cultures come together under one cohesive umbrella that is Memoirs of a Traveling Soul.
In the song "I Can," Cantave continues the journey through exotic percussion paired with an encouraging hip hop mantra stating "you can be anything in the world," a smooth retake on Nas' 2002 track "I Can." He not only pays tribute to the world music his parents shared with him but also the music of his generation. In the track "Favela Mundiale," he samples an emotive speech from the chairman of the Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton, whose words resonate deep within the mind as a soft crackling and sweet marimba guide his voice through the song. Combining a modern sound with a slice of our civil right's history is just one of the many evocative composition techniques that Cantave utilizes on Memoirs of a Traveling Soul.
The track "This Is Love," a clever homage to Bob Marley's "Is This Love," stands out to me the most, not necessarily being my favorite, but rather being the one that first caught my ear with its undulating bass tones. As he elegantly samples Bob Marley's voice, its heavy dub beat and ethereal melodies reminiscent of a harp arpeggio, shook my sacral chakra. Sampling Bob Marley can often sound trite but Cantave created the perfect balance by delicately blending Marley's voice with his own, euphoric composition.
"This exposure to world music and its people really impacted my style as I sought to discover a sort of universal language, a language, whether it be sign or symbol, that when communicated could connect all people regardless of race, creed, politics, or gender. It was beautiful to see on my travels to places like Haiti, the ways in which instruments were produced from nature and also performed in nature; the idea of harmony and how our creations, creative methods, impact the world around us."
The album art, created by Nadia Westcott, features an abstract portrait of a man with the world inside of him and the universe all around him. "The cover art represents a personal journey, a map of the internal dimensions that one may navigate to understand the depth of their potential and capacity as a human being," Cantave describes. "I reached out to artist Nadia Westcott, I had seen her work before and met her in person and appreciated her philosophies. I shared a mood board containing symbols surrounding themes of masculinity, black identity, natural cycles. It was great to be able to apply the concept of co-creativity. Communication through symbols and how two people can perceive certain symbols and ideas differently yet in harmony."
Each track on Memoirs of a Traveling Soul speaks from a different facet of Cantave's mind, from the sultry sounds of Latin jazz to the Haitian folk of his heritage. However, as unique as each track is, a steady hip hop pulse seems to be the common thread that weaves this album together. "Hip hop offers such a diverse array of experiences and opens access to personal narrative and the subjective inspiration qualities," Cantave describes. "Truly there is deep creativity from hip hop, not just selfish greed." Because he utilizes this idea of diversity within unity, every song is as distinct as it is cohesive.
Harmony in all of its forms seems to be the motif of this album. Harmony between humans as well as harmony between sounds. So effortlessly does Cantave weave together the music of the world, blending his skills as a producer as well as a jazz pianist. The result is a rich tapestry of sound full of deep colors and textures. Eloquent are his samples that create a poetic narrative with each passing song, taking the words of others and rewriting them into a modern story. Memoirs of a Traveling Soul is one entity, something that should always be listened to from beginning to end, just like a great book.
"Music to me is a practice of harmony. It's a science and art --- it has helped me through so much in regards to emotionally connecting with myself and learning about how to communicate the abstract qualities of myself. It is the space I come to learn about life. I am presented so many obstacles in the process of creating. From developing patience to learning how to let go of my work and share it with others, all of this offers me the opportunity to grow as a person. I create music to connect."