Trick or Truth: When Did the Horror Become Political?
My homie Steve Nuzum of Pretty Smog Studio invited me to be a part of a spooky season compilation. The invite came in the form of a group message on Facebook and immediately I recognized the names of some people I'm fans of and have a deep respect for what they do. I respect Steve as a musician and a curator so I figured this compilation would be a great ice breaker for the artist I wasn't so familiar with. I had silently decided I wanted to accept the invite, but wanted to have a song idea before I communicated to Steve and the group chat that "I'm in!" Steve left the "Spooky" theme open to watever our interepreation was so the question I asked myself was "What's Spooky"
My creative brainstorm took me back to my childhood. The scary stories that were circulating, The boogeyman, and all of the horror movie killers like Jason, Freddie, Michale Meyers. Just like there was in my actual life, there was a turning point in my childhood where the warmings from my entire community had nothing to do with the monsters I had seen in the media. The monsters were replaced by racist people. The racist store owner that hates black people but ironicly has a business set up in a black neighborhood and is actively looking for the opportunity to "legally" kill a black person. The racist police officer who also, is looking for the opportunity to "legally" kill a black person. I started thinking about my childhood friend Antonio Toney, who was killed by the police last year . I thought about the stories of racial violence from my parents, grandparents, and family members who were all born brefore the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I thought about the history of violence against Black Peoople in America. Needless to say after that rollercoaster of memories and emotions I knew what I wanted to talk about. I knew what story I wanted to tell. I made a what I thought was a spooky beat, the perfect backdrop for a scary story and the first verse flowed through my thumbs as I typed it out in my phone's notes. I finished the song in 2 recording sessions with Steve.
The compilation was released on October 16, and The Free Times opened the article with a mention of my song "American Horror Story" and was described as a "trenchant, political campfire tale" Checkout the article>>>>>>>>> HERE
Based on the writer's words I feel confident that Pat Moran understood my message about who the real monsters are, but when I saw that it was described as political, I gave a certain hybrid smirk-frown that says "You know we're gonna talk about this right?"
I'm going to do my best not to assign motive to the use of the word "Political". I'd like to add context to the way my ears recieve the word "political" when it is used to descibe issues that directly affect Black Americans. This could very well be a hypersensitiviy, bu I'm not saying that because I actually believe it is, but it's me trying to be as subjective as possible. It is my opinion that all concerns that are expressed by marginalized communities are labeled as political and quickly shuffled off of the table of discussion. It doesn't matter that my song in no way calls for a change in policy, nor does it call for an enforcemnt of any policies. I wrote a story from a first person point of view of a black man in 2026 that has only seen a lynching depicted in the movies, has now found himself the victim of racial violence.
"How could my fellow man be doing this to me?"
My song isn't political, it is about humanity and the lack of humanity that has been historically shown by people who are considered patriots, and good God fearing Christian folks. My song isn't a plea, or a cry for help. It is a recitation of the past and the present and shows how the spooky season for Black Americans has never ended.
I could have made a song about ghosts, monsters, or masked killers. Instead, I made a song about the things that have haunted my community for generations. Things that aren't confined to the pages of history books or the plots of horror movies.
Maybe that's what makes American Horror Story a horror story in the first place. The monsters aren't hiding under the bed. They're walking among us, and sometimes the scariest part is how easily we learn to live with them.
The spooky season comes around every October, but for some of us, the horror never really ends. On top of that, if you discuss it, its dismissed as political and the conversation stops. It's the same old song.
The song was inspired by victims of racial violence in my own community. RIP Joshua Ruffin, Cyrus Carmak Belton, Antonio Toney
Two book incluenced the song also:
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