118 Time November 30/December 7, 20206 Questions‘
WHEN YOU’RE
FORCED TO
LET GO,
SOMETHING
ELSE IS
UNLEASHED
’
incredibly esoteric. Maybe we should
get into some toilet humor or some-
thing. I’m British, man. I’ve exceeded
my credits for being earnest for the
week now.Has learning sign language shaped
you as an artist? Jeremy Stone, my
sign instructor, said there’s a trope
within the deaf community that hear-
ing people are emotionally repressed
because they hide behind words. As I
learned to sign more and more, I saw
where that was coming from. I found
myself getting much more emotional
talking through sign language than in
English—because I was communicating
with my whole body.Your latest album is built around
the metaphor of breaking up with
a racist, xenophobic Britain. What
stage of the grieving process are
you currently in? Having written the
record, I’m out the other side into self-
love. I always thought that invitations
to self-love as the start of liberation
were cop-outs. But the more I learn
about myself, the more I see how
difficult it is to love or forgive anyone
if you don’t do the same to yourself. As
we look externally for validation and
self-worth, I think it can lead us down
some really dangerous roads.How has your perspective on the
duty to represent your community
changed over your career? Having
that cross to bear as an artist can be a
real gift and a curse. It’s a gift because
it’s a privilege to know your work
resonates beyond the work itself—
that it might incrementally contribute
toward stretching culture. But on the
curse side, sometimes your awareness
of that responsibility can negate your
own personal curiosity. A journey I’ve
been on recently is trying to draw on my
very specific experiences—because if
you create from a personal, honest place,
you’ll connect with all kinds of people.
—Andrew r. chowT
his year, you released an
album (The Long Goodbye),
co-created one film (Mogul
Mowgli) and starred in another
(Sound of Metal). Is there a common
thread tying these projects together?
The idea of apocalyptic events being
the start of something is quite powerful
to me. All of these stories are about
workaholics confronted with a crisis
that forces them to re-evaluate what
really matters. What are the things you
leave or take with you at the end of a
chapter? And these stories mirror our
current situation. We are taught that
being productive in the economy makes
you a worthwhile human being. It’s such
a toxic idea. This moment has revealed
how the ideology of individualism is
a bit of a myth.You’ve talked about wanting to be
overwhelmed by your roles. Where
does that impulse come from?
Darius Marder, the director of Sound
of Metal, and I jokingly refer to each
other as gobblers: we want to gorge
ourselves on experience. When I heard
about this really intense and emotional
acting role in his film that also involved
learning sign language and how to play
the drums, there was something so
ludicrous about that idea that I wanted
to jump in the deep end. It’s how I like
to approach life, I guess: just go all in.
I think powerful creative cocktails
often come from being deprived of the
illusion of control. When you’re forced
to let go, something else is unleashed,
something that is of you but also not.What does that flow state feel like?
It’s being in your body and out of your
head. In that sense, I think it has a lot
in common with meditative states or
athletic exercise. Some people experi-
ence it in prayer, in a good conversa-
tion with a friend or out dancing. It’s
that feeling of transcending the nar-
row self: when you open up that chan-
nel inside, then you can be carried for-
ward by the great river. This is gettingRiz Ahmed The actor, rapper and activist
on finding inspiration in crisis, learning sign
language and breaking up with Britain