Soul proprietor

>> Nothing but the gospel truth for
maverick musician Cody ChesnuTT

by LATEEF MARTIN

Armed with a guitar and his soul shaped into a singing voice, Atlanta, Georgia’s Cody ChesnuTT is a rarity in today’s music industry—literally, in fact. Touching on life, love and promiscuity, ChesnuTT’s 2002 record, The Headphone Masterpiece, is a minimalist double album recorded on a four-track in his bedroom following his falling out with a major label. Since then, he’s appeared in Dave Chappelle’s Block Party and blazed stages with the Roots, but also kept a low profile. Judging by his sparse appearances and laid-back recording schedule, ChesnuTT doesn’t seem interested in the bottom line, only on how his stories paint a corner of the world his audiences can learn from.

Mirror: What will you be doing with your new work that you didn’t with The Headphone Masterpiece?

Cody ChesnuTT: I’d like to get closer to the root of things, more to the point musically, and broaden my subject matter. Tap into the natural growth and evolution of manhood and life itself.

M: Any guests on the album?

CC: I haven’t discussed it with anyone. The only person that may share an experience is brother Martin Luther [guitarist/vocalist of the Roots].

M: What’s the first thing you think of when you wake up?

CC: Thanking God for waking me up.

M: What does “a student of God” mean to you?

CC: In essence, you’re talking about the core of life, being set on a path. I need to be centred, focused, so I can see life as it is, not as inventions and man-made ideas.

M: It seems that some audiences have short memories and need a bit of guidance these days—I talked to ?uestlove a few months ago about how after James Brown passed away, the Roots were almost trying to compensate, playing even more medleys of old soul and funk than usual.

CC: No question, music these days is in a state of arrested development, stagnating, lacking in maturity just for the sake of market projections. It’s time to grow up right now. It’s time to observe and get a true understanding of what responsibility life is. Art sustains the people and brings the best out of the people.

With Tiombe Lockhart and Scott C
at le National tonight, Thursday,
Oct. 4, 8:30 p.m., $30