Eternia and Rel McCoy have a new album named FREE coming September 24. Today we bring you the premiere of the latest single, “The Story of Us,” featuring indy rap icon (and Eternia’s husband!), Mr. Lif. Listen below, then keep scrolling to read our Eternia interview, where she discusses the new album, life, her work with Rel McCoy, and more.
There’s been a lot of years since your last album (2010’s At Last). How come so long, and why did now feel like the right time?
I moved back home to Toronto from NYC the spring of 2013 and that probably marked my departure from hip-hop too, I guess. It’s been said “extremes beget extremes” and – in hindsight – I needed a recalibration with my relationship with hip-hop. It just wasn’t a healthy relationship. When any ‘good’ thing becomes an ‘ultimate’ thing, it can get warped. I basically lived for my career, at the expense of most other things and people, and went hard for over a decade and then the pendulum shifted in the opposite direction and I found myself craving being around my family, cultivating deeper connections – especially spiritually – and working in an industry that served elders in a long term care home. I also probably craved predictability and security. I still dropped singles and collabs and hit stages in the interim, but yah no tours and actively putting out full lengths so I can see why it felt like I disappeared off the planet. I’d like to think the pendulum has landed somewhere in the middle now: a good balance of both. I hope.
You’ve experienced a lot of major life events in the last few years, including good ones (marriage, kids), and bad (illness). Did you find yourself channelling a lot of this into FREE?
Probably, but not intentionally. Like I didn’t sit down and write about having a son, or being unwell. But I’m sure because that’s a part of my life experience it naturally hues what I do think to write about. An overarching theme that threads through the album is holding the tension between wanting to be emotionally, mentally and spiritually free and yet still battling with things that shackle us such as regrets, anxiety, fear, depression, insecurity…you name it. We can wax poetics all we want about what it takes to be present and whole and live a fulfilling joy-filled life, but most of us are still dealing with external pressure and internal demons that drag us down and can sabotage our joy. And for me, a lot of that sabotaging starts with my own heart. So yah, that is a theme that colored a lot of the album. I’m sure having to deal with major life changes that were and still are a huge adjustment probably made me face a lot of those demons head on. And talk about ‘em.
It’s a nice touch to see Mr. Lif on the track list. What’s it like working with someone so closely intertwined with your personal life?
For those who don’t already know, because I don’t assume everyone does, I am married to Mr. Lif. That’s a beautiful love story in itself, of which we dive into a bit on “The Story of Us” on the album. “Secret” was a gift – when we were dating I sent him my verse in the spirit of sharing and wanting feedback, nothing more, and he sent me back his verse in less than 24 hours! I think it was his way of encouraging me and telling me it was dope. It was certainly a big gift and unexpected. “The Story of Us” was recorded at the very end of the album process. After we had been doing our #MrLifandEternia IG Live show for almost a year and we knew it was a story that people were invested in: it wasn’t just our music, but people cared about US and OUR story. So I knew we had to immortalize at least a part of it. But to answer your question: It’s interesting [laughs]. Def a different experience before having a child versus after. After it takes a gargantuan amount of effort to handle even the smallest musical endeavor. Lif just slid in before the album deadline on “The Story of Us” with his verse. I’m glad he did. “So glorious, behold the story of us…” is probably one of my favorite lines on the album.
FREE is produced by Rel McCoy. Tell me about how you guys connected, and how the recording process goes.
Rel is a beast! I understand that some folks may not be as familiar, he’s definitely criminally underrated, but he is a BEAST. He raps, he produces, he sings, he does cuts. He’s a perfectionist, he’s thorough, he’s honest and keeps it 100. And his music is undeniable, as you will experience on the new record. We connected through our shared faith community in Toronto, we’re both believers (Christians) and met at a hip-hop bible study in Toronto if you can believe it (hehe, shout out City Lights). But we didn’t actually really connect to make music until a couple years later at a concert for The Sorority. We started making music with each other for fun with no plan, just to create in freedom. Then I received a grant to do a follow up album with MoSS, and around half a year later or so it was clear that MoSS wasn’t able to complete the record in the time frame we had so I took a pause (had a child) then revisited the whole album idea with Rel. We asked for MoSS’s blessing of course. And here we are, three years later. It’s been a long road, but we did it! God knew.
Canada has always had a good grassroots support network for hip-hop artists, providing grants for creative projects. I know you’ve benefitted from this funding in your own career. How important is that for both an established artist like you, and newer ones coming up?
To be frank, I don’t think Canada’s arts and culture would exist without the support of these grant organizations. Or at least not in the capacity we exist now. Canada doesn’t really have the business infrastructure (or didn’t when I was coming up) to support artists based on record sales and label budgets alone. Even major label artists in Canada rely heavily on the grant system. I received a humble grant for this album from The Ontario Arts Council (OAC), they also funded At Last and Factor Canada funded It’s Called Life. My albums would not exist without these grants, not simply because of their resources but because they hold me to a higher standard and require me to have a clear, achievable and compelling project description…and deadlines! Deadlines are everything. Most artists hate them, I need them or else these projects would never happen. It’s not easy to write a grant (a university education goes a long way with this), and it’s even harder to get one. But yah. If i haven’t been clear: the importance is paramount and my career and most other Canadian artists you’ve heard of you easily would have never heard of without these government-funded grants. Thank you, Canada.
FREE is out September 24. Anything else you’d like people to know about it, or take away from it?
I poured a lot into this album, was held up and hit road blacks every step of the way, went through a lot of difficult life changes throughout the making of this record, cried a lot, felt insecure about my skill and insignificant, like it didn’t matter whether I made this album at all, and was angry and frustrated too at times during the process, mostly at myself. The opposite of ‘Free,’ right? [laughs’]. Anyways, in my birthday card this year Lif wrote: “Perhaps your new album is a microcosm of defining points of your character at this stage of your life. You delivered your best, most thoughtful body of work while you were in the most physical and emotional agony.”
Sometimes it takes someone else giving you their outside perspective to see something for what it is. And that is what this album is: a treasure cut out of a very challenging time in my life. My hopes is that this album makes people feel. Something. Anything. Just FEEL. And if it leads them to more awareness about themselves and what truly matters on their path to freedom: bonus.
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FREE by Eternia and Rel McCoy is out September 24, and you can order it here. Also check DJ Eclipse’s recent mixtape, ‘Eternia and Rel McCoy: Journey to FREE: A Retrospective’ here. Follow Eternia on Twitter, Instagram and Spotify. Follow Rel McCoy on Twitter, Instagram and Spotify. Interview by Grown Up Rap Editor Ben Pedroche.