The 3D artist shares the songs that inspire her otherworldly creations, from Freddie Gibbs to Norwegian black metal
Serwah Attafuah describes her 3D renderings as “surreal cyber wastelands” and “Afro-futuristic reflections of self.” The West Sydney based artist and punk musician has curated a playlist that inspires her unearthly work—an eclectic mix of hip hop, electronic, and metal tracks. 3D art is painstaking, especially when it comes to the representation of scenes as immersive as Attafuah’s: overgrown dystopian cityscapes, featuring robotic avatars with halos and Air Maxes. A good soundtrack is more than a necessary tool in the process.
Attafuah opens her playlist with “Lay it Down” by Freddie Gibbs. “Start the day off with the Big Lord Bunny Rabbit.” She quips, “this song motivates me to crush renders and skulls.” If we’re going by genre, Attafuah also includes Gunna’s “Argentina” as one of her hip hop inspirations: “I made most of my animations for Tuka’s video to this track. Imagined myself in Miami looking up at the stars on a penthouse rooftop after a day at the beach.” The effect is pristine. Attafuah’s avatars zip around on motorcycles, through dreamlike landscapes. Giant tropical fish float around in the sky.
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The bulk of Attafuah’s selections are electronic. She says that dub and dubstep set the tone for 70% of her studio time: “Hands down my favorite genre for concentrating.” She adds to her mix V.I.V.E.K.’s “Out of Reach,” Halogenix and Alix Perez’s “Broken,” along with Photek’s “Age of Empires,” which she calls “some real Netrunner music.” The tracks’ intentional, insistent beats are ideal for finding rhythm in such a lengthy creative process.
And then there’s “Atomic Chapel,” by 1349. Attafuah was the guitarist of DISPOSSESSED, an indigenous punk metal band that played its last show in 2019 so she appreciates Norwegian black metal. “The drumbeat that Frost did for this track is so epic. Feels like a cosmic battle is about to take place.” Attafuah also includes “Greed Killing” by Napalm Death and “Passed Away” by Desultory to top off her render mix.
The resulting playlist is imaginative and unconstrained, an encapsulation of the freedom that characterizes Attafuah’s work, past and present.
