"I always thought of Backsploitation as a record with more structure than simply jamming at a party..."

"I always thought of Backsploitation as a record with more structure than simply jamming at a party and now I think I’ve found what it is, though it is set up in my mind in a somewhat strange way. I thought up all this while listening to it on the way to Ryan’s house. Backsploitation was the first Nupela album to feature guest artists so it is really an introduction to this concept. This whole guest artist idea is introduced as a vodou possession ritual. The ritual service is something at the centre of a community, in this case the social group that drops in at Ryan’s party, something that features music, and Ryan or Nupela in general also take on the role of the vodou priest and the ones who are to be possessed. There is also all the talk of invoking goddesses and genies and other concepts of ritual invocation and possession. 


The deities who possess Nupela (the loa) are of course the guest artists Stevie and Red, while the third deity is titular Kevin Back in the role of Papa Legba, the guardian of the Crossroads AKA the intersection of the material and physical world. The vodou ritual begins and ends with an invocation of this guardian, who is requrid to open and close the gates. In this case Kevin ferries the loa to the vodou ritual in exchange for sacrificial offerings of smokes. The difference between Stevie and Red is sort of a broad pastiche/parody of the difference between the peaceful Rada loa and the aggressive Petwo loa. To elaborate, the Rada loa are the ancient African gods who guard noble traditions and peace; Stevie is among them. The Petro loa are American gods who have become angry through ongoing war with the Spanish; Red is among them. Neither is more desirable than the other, but they will offer very different perspectives.


With Stevie the party moves along nicely and he transports them to fun locations like Las Vegas. But when the Red Clan (i.e. Petwo Nation) give Nupela a magic pepper, it transports them to a nightmare world inhabited by cavemen. Like everything involving the Petwo and Rada, these are mirror images of other, the modern parties and the primitive harvest rituals. At the successful conclusion of the ritual, both the Rada and Petwo are united for the farewell tribute to Papa Legba/Kevin Back before he again closes the Crossroads, the ritual comes to a close, and the loa depart."


- Dylan Head