I think our idea of the band and the musicians, as fans, is likely different from what the band members have as themselves as artists.

Maybe the multi-media artists they are now are who they may have been in the band's financial and career security happened at an earlier point in their lives.

I don't get the sense that they don't care about their fans. I just think that they have this rare opportunity to create stuff they really care about *when* they want to make stuff.

Having autonomy over their work is an artist's dream. They've reached that point. So much so that they can explore other aspects of their creativity and still have their bread-and-butter to fall back on.

I'm as happy for them as I am sad that their recent success means I may never get another album from them. Even though I didn't get/understand their last album, they fill a lane that, outside of Kendrick and Lupe, no one else does - high concept, well-crafted music that really makes you think about the culture at large. That style of music made me become a fan in many respects. So, to not have them is a big blow.

But the band, both as musicians and as personalities, are so much a part of my maturation as a fan of music and art in general. From the fact that you all drop by here every day, they are to you as well. Not getting music from them is an uncomfortably tangible reminder that I am far away from my youth. And as a result, have fewer ties to the highlights of that time.

I sincerely hope that I get at least one more time to get hyped about an album release from a band I am so indebted to because they showed me potential about music and Black people, to be honest, that I didn't know was entirely possible.

But if I don't, I know I am glad to have spent the last twenty years rocking with and supporting a band that was as impactful as overlooked - and that's a lot.