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Corey Loveless shines in latest album Certificate of Appreciation
Corey Loveless of DIM 136 has brought himself closer to his listeners than ever before with his third full length solo album Certificate of Appreciation. Loveless has built his career off of introspective lyricism and these ten tracks are loaded with just that. He has established himself as a down to earth artist who always brings a dose of reality and raw emotion to his rhymes.
In his latest release produced by Nowaytoparadise producers Siknaste and Osiris, Loveless brings you into his world of self reflection. Letting us all in on a roller coaster ride of memories and relatability as he breaks down his past not as an artist, but as a human being.
We got a chance to chop it up with Corey and spoke about his latest creation, what inspired it and more. Read up on the full interview below.
Q: The cover seems to depict a moment of high importance, can you break it down a bit and tell us why you chose Certificate of Appreciation as the title?
“So my parents divorce is the thing that caused me to end up in NY in the first place and a lot of the things I’m talking about on the album happened post divorce. The album cover is a photo of myself and my father at his retirement from the military. My father decided to retire when my mother asked for a divorce so he could be closer to us as I decided to stay with my mom at the time.
A certificate of appreciation is usually handed to the wife of a military personnel at their retirement but my mother had left with my sister before my dads ceremony. I decided to stay with pops and watch him retire; the plan was to have him drive me from Idaho to NY to drop me off with my mother. Since my mom had left early with my sister and was unable to receive the certificate, the certificate of appreciation was handed to the only family member present which was me. And that moment kinda sparked a whole new life for me”
Q: Since the cover is an important memory of your father and yourself, was he the main inspiration for the album or more-so just your experiences after this event?
“My relationship with my pops didn’t have much to do with the album a lot of the project was me reminiscing and breaking down some traumas in my life, unhealthy coping skills I’ve developed and just trying to come to terms with a lot of what happened from like 5th grade to present”
Q: The track “Narcissus” featuring Anthony Kannon is a banger and one you’ve put out previously with Canvas. Was it originally intended to released as a single or did you know it was gonna blend perfectly with this kind of project?
“That song and proof were made together completely separate at first from the creation of the album. They where like the first two songs I worked on with Casper ever. (the main producer and engineer on this project) I originally didn’t have any intention of adding this onto the album but casper had the idea of throwing it on and once I listened to it in context it just fit perfect on the album”
Q: You mentioned your doing less of showing your face besides in concert, can you elaborate on that and is it a branding tactic or just your personal choice for privacy?
” I have a few reasons for not showing my face. Part of it is I just have severe social anxiety and I just generally hate being seen publicly. So I’m just trying to make my image fit what’s comfortable for me but also most of my favorite artists remain anonymous to separate the art from the artist. I just really like that idea and am trying to find a way to make it my own.”
Q: Do you have a personal favorite song from the album or favorite experience in its creation?
“As far as a favorite track I don’t really have one at this point. All of these songs are so personal to me I couldn’t choose, but I mean the whole process of creating the album was a beautiful experience; Casper brought so many dope ideas to the creation of this. He kept me on my toes with the production and found really unique ways to fill space in the songs”
Q: Do you plan on dropping any visuals for the album?
“There is a visualizer put together by Casper and myself out now on YouTube. We will be putting together more visualizers in that video mosaic style and I’ll be editing together more videos and content in the coming weeks for the project”
Be sure to check out Certificate of Appreciation below and on all streaming platforms today. Keep up with all things Corey Loveless through his social links and dont forget to keep supporting your locals!
Written By: Joshua Chaffer
Published: June 11th, 2022