TRACK 4: COOL WITH YOU?
Photography by Jessica Dunston
“Never really hopped on a wave, it’s the truth / mama said to make your own wave being you ”
On Cool Wit You, Pat invites us to his home — figuratively through the music and literally in this photoset by Jessica. The contemplative piano chords and the melody that threads them together feel like the wake of a new morning as you open the curtains for the natural light to shine through. In that, a subtle metaphor comes together that meshes with the theme of the song. Pat’s verses confidently lets us know his background, idiosyncrasies, and what he’s about — all the things you’d probably learn more about when you step into a friend’s or acquaintance’s home for the first time. He does it regardless, knowing that it could potentially negate him from being sought under what’s considered to be ‘cool’ or traditionally intriguing, compared to the rappers we hear about in the mainstream. No filter. Just natural light.
He’s pretty unbothered by it though (as you can see in the photo above). Comfortably sitting in his element, knowing who he is, and loving who he’s becoming. Following the somewhat rhetorical question he presents in the chorus, he projects that same comfortability and confidence you see in the photo in the second verse as well. The drums come in with a undeniable, head-nodding bounce and his voice belts melodically with enthusiasm — shedding more light on his past, present and his mindset towards himself going forward.
The symbolism of natural light in an intimate setting, in my mind, was so potent that I had to ask Jessica if that lighting was by design. Hear what she had to say about putting together this set for Cool Wit You:
