# American Descendant of Slavery, the Album

American Descendant of Slavery, the Album is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Terry Blade. The album was released on February 5, 2021.

## Background

Blade described American Descendant of Slavery, the Album as "an ethnographic musical album." In an interview during which Blade was asked about the album's backstory, he stated "the album is about the intersectionality of my racial identity, gender identity and sexual identity as a descendant of African Americans who endured and survived chattel slavery in the U.S." He added:
   I intended my debut album to be about me describing my experiences as an LGBT Black-American through genres of music that either originate from Black-American culture or otherwise benefit greatly from the contributions of LGBT-identifying and non-LGBT-identifying Black-Americans.
Blade used audio recordings of formerly enslaved African-Americans in the album's interludes. He went to the American Folklife Center of the US Library of Congress to research audio recordings in the public domain for the album. In an interview, Blade credited Solange Knowles and her use of interludes in her 2016 album A Seat at the Table as inspiration. He stated "I remember...being completely floored by how she used interludes to unpack themes, document history and honor the oral tradition of Black-American culture. I was particularly struck by Track 8 ‘Interlude: Tina Taught Me’ and found it to be a remarkable example of this."
On December 19, 2020, Blade announced that the album would be a 2021 Black History Month premiere. He credited Cleo Manago, James Baldwin, Bayard Rustin, Patricia Hill-Collins, and Ta-Nehisi Coates as notable influences for the album.

## Release

American Descendant of Slavery, the Album was released on February 5, 2021. In an interview, Blade was asked "Why release your debut album now?" He answered: "Because as much as the album relies on history, it is about now. It is about what it means to be black right now, to be LGBTQ+ right now. The album is about how history continues to affect what happens right now.
On March 1, 2021, the Archives of African American Music and Culture included the album in its Black Grooves publication of the February 2021 Black Music Releases of Note, listing it as an r&b/soul release. A month later, the album's track "Mtf" was featured in Country Queer by Adeem the Artist who wrote that the song "details the story of a trans sex worker who is trying desperately to finance gender confirmation surgery and after defending herself from the violence of a client, ends up in a prison for men". Adeem added: "It reminds me of CeCe McDonald — though I’m not sure if it’s about her — and it’s a really moving song."
The album received national radio airplay with its tracks airing across NPR member stations, including North Country Public Radio, KFSK, KJAC, KMPB, KPFK, KRCB-FM, KRCL, KSJK, KTTZ-FM, KUNC, WAMU, and WFPL. The album's tracks also aired on Amazing Radio.
Additionally, the album's interludes featured audio recordings by formerly enslaved African-American Fountain Hughes and American sociolinguist Walt Wolfram. The album won a Summit Creative Award for Audio at the 2021 Summit Awards.

## Singles
### "Mr. Robertson"

"Mr. Robertson" was released on August 5, 2020. Blade described the single as being about his "personal experience with his estranged father," adding that that song "is a social commentary on the difficulties of family reintegration of absent African-American fathers." The song received national radio airplay on Amazing Radio and reached No. 51 on the station's daily chart. The music video won the Gold Award for Best Music Video at the Virgin Spring Cinefest. The music video also received an Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2020 Luis Buñuel Memorial Awards. The Luis Buñuel Memorial Awards later nominated the music video for a Pigeon D'or Award.

### "Black Hurts"

"Black Hurts" was released on October 30, 2020. The single is about "the burdens that come with being black in the U.S." The song received national radio airplay on Amazing Radio and reached No. 79 on the station's daily chart. The song was selected as one of 18 finalists at The Artists Forum Music Competition: 2021 in New York City where the competition's theme was "(The) Politics of Emotion." On March 14, 2021, a video emerged of DJ Symphony listening to the single. In the video, he stated: "This track is pretty dope right here...He has a nice voice. The beat is ill and the message is ill." DJ Symphony stated that he would be featuring the single on the "Independent Invasion Volume 3 Mixtape."

### "Same Gender Loving"

"Same Gender Loving" was released on November 27, 2020. The single's title derives from the term same gender loving or "SGL" which emerged in the early 1990s and was originally coined by Cleo Manago. Blade described the song as being about "love between two African-American same gender loving individuals." On December 18, 2020, the single was featured in Country Queer by Adeem the Artist who wrote:
   Terry is a singer-songwriter based in Chicago whose unique fusion of R&B with Folk has created a fresh, multi-dimensional sound. He caught my attention with his witty and biting original song “The Karen Blues” in early November but I’m especially enamored of his new single, “Same Gender Loving” where he croons, “I’m not afraid to receive your affection.” It’s a touching and poetic expression of love.

### "The Silent Treatment ft. Terry Blade (Shivers Remix)"

"The Silent Treatment ft. Terry Blade (Shivers Remix)" was released on December 25, 2020 as part of a compilation album which featured artists who joined the independent record label Starburst Records. Blade described the single as being about "how one's partner has taken 'the silent treatment,' which is a refusal to communicate with another person or acknowledge their presence, and used it as a 'medical treatment' to try to fix/cure existing problems in a relationship. It is a remix of the lo-fi instrumental 'Shivers' by Distant.face." The single received national radio airplay on Amazing Radio and was placed in the station's "B-List" rotation. The single reached No. 6 on the station's daily chart.

## Critical reception

Preston Frazier of Something Else Reviews wrote: "American Descendant of Slavery is an unflinchingly powerful debut from Chicago-based artist Terry Blade. Combining folk, rock, and soul elements, Blade delivers 19 songs that confront racism, LGBTQ+ and social-justice issues." Something Else Reviews ranked the album second on its "Best of 2021 Rock, Pop and R&B" list.
Rebecca Cullen of Stereo Stickman wrote: "Far from simply a musical ode to black history, American Descendant of Slavery, the Album brings together cinematic intricacies, fascinating and often distressing spoken-word fragments from as early as the 1940’s, elements of hip hop, jazz, soul, funk, and a plethora of scene-setting tools – all of which is eye-opening and often unsettling in nature." Thomas Bedward of Broken 8 Records rated the album a 9 out of 10 and wrote: "A textured tapestry of sounds that reaches back through the history, everything about American Descendant of Slavery, The Album speaks to the soul, and the more you listen, the more you become attached to Terry and his experiences."
The Lemon Radio called Blade "a master class songwriter at his best" and wrote that "American Descendant of Slavery, the Album is a timeless body of work that deserves years of recognition and praise." RGM magazine wrote: "During this time of civil unrest, political controversy, the black lives matter, and LGBTQ rights movements, this album completely stands out from the crowd. This isn’t just music, this is Terry Blade delivering his perspective on the current status of the Black American and pouring his heart out as a proud Black and LGBTQ identifying singer-songwriter."

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2020 | Luis Buñuel Memorial Awards | Music Video: Outstanding Achievement Award | Mr. Robertson | Won |
| 2020 | Luis Buñuel Memorial Awards | Music Video: Pigeon D'or Award | Mr. Robertson | Nominated |
| 2020 | Virgin Spring Cinefest | Music Video (Gold Award) | Mr. Robertson | Won |
| 2021 | Summit Awards | Summit Creative Award – Audio – Other (Bronze Award) | ADOS, the Album | Won |

## Track listing

All lyrics are written by Terry Blade, except where noted; all music is composed by Kevin Macleod, BMTJ, Matthew May, Ryini Beats, Airtone, Starburst Johnny, Oak Studios, and ComboJam.

## Personnel

* Airtone – producer, composer
* BMTJ – producer, composer
* ComboJam – producer
* Distant.face – producer, arranger
* Elmer E. Sparks – ethnographic collector (interlude)
* Fontain Hughes – featured speaker (interlude)
* Harriet Smith – featured speaker (interlude)
* Hermond Norwood – featured speaker, ethnographic collector (interlude)
* John Henry Faulkner – featured speaker, ethnographic collector (interlude)
* Kevin Macleod – producer, composer
* Laura Smalley – featured speaker (interlude)
* Matthew May – producer, composer
* Michael Vargas – photographer, album cover artwork artist
* Miriam Meyers – ethnographic collector (interlude)
* Mitchell Washington – featured speaker (interlude)
* Oak Studios – producer, composer
* Ryini Beats – producer, composer
* Starburst Johnny – co-executive producer, producer, composer
* Terry Blade – main artist, vocalist, lyricist, executive producer, producer, arranger
* T-Man – featured speaker (interlude)
* Vi@protiliusproductions – album engineer
* Walt Wolfram – featured speaker, ethnographic collector (interlude)
* Unidentified – featured speaker in Track 1 (interlude)
* Unidentified – featured speaker in Track 12 (interlude)
* Unidentified – featured speaker in Track 18 (interlude)