The many Layers of Funk and Emotion with Tolliver

When it comes to funky music, I think I'm outright easy to please, or perhaps it is a feature inherent to the properties of *the funk* that just sell me entirely on a project in a matter of seconds, so perhaps I'm not the most reliable and impartial judge when it comes to recommending you Tolliver's newest EP, "Daddyland".

For a six-song EP, Tolliver sure went and reached deep within himself to the point you might as well call this a conceptual piece. As the story goes, when he was 11 years old, Tolliver sadly lost his father, an event that gave him ten years worth of doubts and fears. The openly gay musician had difficulties coming to grips with how his Pastor father would view his less-than-churchly lifestyle, and it wasn't until he reconnected with his brother that he would come to learn of his dad's own marital indiscretions and flaws.

n a letter to his father's spirit, Tolliver tells him "I wanted to show you who I am, and get closer to who you are," because I miss you and still can’t believe you’re gone..." And although for long as he lives, he will always be marked by uncertainties regarding his relationship with his father, "Daddyland" becomes this therapeutic personal record in which he cherishes the man and the music he immersed him it in church.

Perhaps Funk is not the delivery method one often considers when talking about grieving, self-doubt, pain and other such "downer" topics, but the genre's own origins in Soul, Jazz and R&B always brought along themes of struggle both personal and social within it. The hypnotic, danceable qualities of the rhythmic-centric structure of funk are conducive to taking the more dramatic lyrical aspects and transforming the songs into anthems of resilience and revindication, exactly what songs like "Call Me a Freak" and "Death back To birth" (also featuring strong Gospel elements) are all about.

Ultimately, Daddyland's narrative arc comes to close in on acceptance over the unknowing, over the mysteries of life and death, and over the flaws that make us all human, all of this without ever losing this deep groove that absolutely has to be danced to.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based. 

I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant  ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.