XANDER PRATT
Xander Pratt
Musician, DJ, model, and futurist. Ghanaian by birth, avant-garde by intention, and finishing an album in Marrakech that he hopes will set the world a little on fire.
I represent a New Africa, an avant-garde Africa, one that does not seek acceptance, emulate indoctrinated influence, or magnify mediocrity, but one that is bold and unafraid to rattle the world with progressive ideas.
Twenty years of this archive have taught me to be wary of anyone who announces a movement. Then Xander Pratt starts speaking and you understand he is not announcing one. He is already living inside it. Born in Ghana, schooled partway in Australia, where the photographer Peter Coulson first found him, and now holed up at a hotel in Marrakech finishing a record, he calls what he carries a New Africa. We spoke during lockdown, a season he had turned into introspection, and he gave me one of the more quietly radical conversations this platform has run.
The Journey
Xander left home at sixteen. The years since have taken him from Ghana to Australia to a long, restless education in being himself, and CNN recently named him one of Africa's leading avant-garde artists. This summer he releases Train To Marrakech, an album that folds hip-hop into Middle Eastern textures and Afro House, written and assembled during a stillness that, he is careful to say, never stilled the mind. Out of that quiet came what he calls a resounding of his inner voice, and a humility about it: not every idea is an ideal, and not every ideal is a good idea.
The Essence of Africa
At the 1-54 art fair in Marrakech he showed twenty-two images he calls the Essence of Africa. For him the continent is not a place so much as a frequency, a direct line to what he names the Source. The Africa he represents, he is quick to add, is not the Africa he grew up in. It is versatility, acceptance, unity, a whisper in the wind of a message he has long heard. To be African, he says, is to plant his heart in the soil and let it grow into a generation of change.
To be African is to have a direct connection to the Source of all that is, and all that will be.Xander Pratt
Shared here for the first time.
- See the Illusion of Time
- Overcome the Fear of Loss
- Understand the Order of Chaos
- Duality Is Key
- Art Is the Door
In Conversation
What is one thing you feel will change the most for creatives moving forward, with all that is going on?
The other day, during a deep and meaningful conversation with my mother, she mentioned that although the world is still, it does not mean the mind is. I realized that with chaotic-calm comes a rising tide of Renaissance, a shift in the paradigm of understanding which will in turn usher in bold new forms of visual presentation. I believe art and creation in many forms will become less esoteric, as this pandemic has shown us that although there are many nuances in humanity, we are a single organism capable of facing the same problem at once. This may either breed unity or promote further segregation, and it is an artist's role to ignite the former. Creatives are about to set the world on fire, in a progressive way.
Share with us some personal mantras, or wise words.
I have five messages that have resonated deeply within my spirit over the past few years. I have them tattooed on my left hand in Sanskrit. This is the first time I have shared this in an interview. See the Illusion of Time. Overcome the Fear of Loss. Understand the Order of Chaos. Duality Is Key. Art Is the Door.
What are some of the messages you express with your music?
There are no limits to expression and exploration, only those that are socially imposed on us. My music is a diary of my emotions. Many memories live within the chords that make my compositions, moments of truth, fear, anger, love, uncertainty, and epiphany. My hope is for people to feel my journey through my music, to ride the wave of my experimental nature, knowing that we are not defined as one thing. Sound holds the keys to unlocking all the doors of unity and expression.
On CNN you spoke about what it means to be African. Will you share that with our audience?
I recently exhibited at the Marrakech 1-54 art fair, where I showed twenty-two images that represent what I believe is the Essence of Africa. We are separated by light, colour, and perception. The Essence of Africa is the Essence of Being, the divine truth that connects all that is, a true journey through introspection. As the path to modernity continues, it is simple to lose harmony with the equilibrium. To be African is to have a direct connection to the Source of all that is, and all that will be. The Africa I represent is not the Africa I grew up in. Africa is versatility, it is acceptance, it is unity, it is a whisper in the wind of a message I have long heard, subtle yet unquestionable. To be African is to be able to plant my heart into the soil, and allow it to grow into a generation of change.
Favorite websites or social handles?
@motiondesigners and @motiongraphics_collective.
This conversation was conducted and edited by Tarik Mounim, during quarantine. With gratitude to Xander and to Tarik, and to the first single from Train To Marrakech, a gift to this platform.
