Read Directions Carefully. Repeat the questions to yourself out loud as if you were murmuring the lyrics of Dev’s records under your breath. Choose the answer that most closely aligns with whatever you feel deep in your soul when he is solemnly singing sweet nothings (for some, “everythings”) in your ear. Use a pen. You should know your first choice is right.
a) Googling who Solange’s producer was.
b) Listening to the Palo Alto soundtrack, the James Franco film in which numerous teens struggle with so-called “substance-abuse” and dramatic qualms about sex. But who doesn’t? What makes them special? How come they get a movie?
c) From a friend that you’re no longer sure holds that label who once said your voice gave her the same comfort as the guitar strumming in “Sutphin Boulevard.”
d) The radio. (Nobody will circle this.)
a) Negro Swan because ultimately it is about family and how sometimes that word involves making something out of nothing. Because when he was composing it, Dev moved from place to place and only used the instruments that were immediately available to him. You envy his resourcefulness and ability to create beautiful things regardless of the outside world. You too wish to create beautiful things. Your envy magically transforms into admiration.
b) Coastal Grooves because even though critics labeled it as just “seductive mumbling,” that sort of sensuality becomes a comfort. When listening to it, you feel like your own woman, capable of being anything you’d ever need.
c) Cupid Deluxe because one time in an interview Dev said that it was different from all his other albums because it was all about him being comfortable. That he had been making music for so long that it was finally beginning to feel like a home to him and you could only pray to have one of those. You toy with the idea of your body becoming a house.
d) All of the above. When you listen to any album from Devonte you feel all of those things at once.
a) No. You would lay still, starstruck.
b) Yes. You would confess that whenever you’re missing an old friend a bit more than usual, you listen to “Charcoal Baby.” You would confess that whenever someone interests you romantically, you listen to “I Wanna C U” on repeat whilst imagining the next time you might encounter them. You would confess that whenever you’re feeling distressed, you listen to “Chewing Gum” and the mixture of his voice and A$AP Rocky’s brings a calm that knows no equal.
d) Uncertain
