East Atlanta Love Letter- 6lack’s Lesson on the Power of Vulnerability
How does someone communicate their vulnerabilities to their significant other? How can they trust that their honesty will be met with a deep level of understanding and comfort? What if the book is the same, but you’re on two different pages?
6lack’s 2018 album East Atlanta Love Letter explores his own struggles with finding a balance between his vulnerabilities and his ego. Rather than a collection of songs, it feels more like a cohesive body of work with each song outlining his differing thought patterns that coincide with his contrasting personality traits.
The opening track “Unfair” has him singing, I hope my mistakes don’t make me less of a man/ cause lately it feels like them shits really can/ I’m hoping I don’t wake up all alone/ it’s hard to say it so I write a song/ but that ain’t equal to me writing wrongs. Whereas on the next song “Loaded Gun”, he’s letting his girl know that he’s got options even though he doesn’t want anyone else. Ego puts a wedge in relationships preventing any sort of growth. There has to be some sort of compromise that enables for a safe space to communicate without judgement. It’s our bodies natural response, however, to be on the defensive once our egos are put on the line with something as simple as a question; especially by someone who you hold close to your heart. “They should understand” or “Why should they want to know… Are THEY hiding something? Do they even deserve to know?” The ego is our body’s defence system against hurt, pain, and suffering which ironically, are all results of being left vulnerable. But going all in with something as precious as our past traumas and experiences with another person is necessary to flourish and is something that 6lack doesn’t seem to want to do.
His stubborn intentions are realized in the song “Sorry” as he understands the faults of his actions, but is at odds with what to do. He has a hard time coming to terms with the man he knows he should be, and the one he is as he sings on the opening lines,
Really hate saying sorry/ gotta be another way/ I know you’re hurt regardless/ tryna take away the pain.
There is a clear line between right and wrong in this instance for him, but he just can’t seem to come to grips with the fundamentals of a relationship. Apologies are essential for any healthy bond but not necessarily for any of the obvious reasons… The release that comes from letting go of what you thought was right, for the betterment of the companionship, allows for that safe space that I alluded to earlier and thus, growth can ensue slowly but surely. When a genuine concern and effort is made to make amends, the healing process can begin as you can hopefully heal together, rather than apart.
That’s not the case for his relationship as the track “Disconnect” dissects-
Love isn’t looking over shoulders/ love is/ you should trust what I told ya.
In practice, that should be the way that a relationship is handled but when trust is thwarted, how can that be accomplished? You’re always going to be at opposite ends of the spectrum instead of flowing together. It’s clear that the dual lifestyle he’s trying to live has taken an emotional toll on his relationship with the song “Letting go” explaining his girl’s anger with him. You can’t let them win/ all they really wanna do is distract me/ she like/ who you foolin/ you been out here tryna make a move ay/ she like, boy it’s a two way/ groupies only following what you say. He has something lasting on the one hand, yet his vices are getting in the way of his better judgement. Which begs the larger question: Why enter a relationship if you’re not ready? We get caught up in societal pressures and choosing between our selfish wants and needs so much that we lose our innate ability to recognize what’s real, forcing what isn’t to dissipate and loosing ourselves in the process. There has to be an undying want for something in order for it to work and he is coming to realize that on the album.
His moments of honesty are akin to breakthroughs as the four quintessential RnB love songs “East Atlanta Love letter”, “Pretty Little Fears”, “Seasons”, and “Stan” act as testimonials for his real feelings toward what his relationship means to him. The smooth and sultry jams resemble the potential that undying love has to deepen any relationship, if both parties are willing to work on it. We hear these sentiments echoed on “Stan” as he sings,
Down to walk the walk until the end/ the prize/ you’ll find a lover and a friend/ baby ima love you like a stan, stan, stan.
Feelings can be complicated especially the more you push them away and when you’re committing to someone else, if you haven’t properly acknowledged them prior to the relationship, and don’t want to talk about them during it, then the relationship suffers. The only way to communicate your fears is by simply doing that, communicating. 6lack’s ability to come to a self-realization through the 14 songs on the album is proof of the power of vulnerability.