The first G&B album since 2016 gets the forensic treatment

“I’d like to preface this by saying that I didn’t exactly create any of these pieces with a meaning in mind,” says Gabriel Reyes-Whittaker, the composer and sound artist behind Gifted & Blessed and a host of other monikers including Wild Oats, Eglo, All City and Sound In Color. With esteemed US label Stones Throw releasing Heard & Unheard, his first G&B release since 2016, we’d asked him to discuss the album track by track.

“The meaning I have assigned to them happened after they were already completed,” he continues, “They needed titles, so I gave them titles based on what I later decided to use as sort of a theme for this project, which is a study I’ve been into called human design (look into it if interested in how it might apply to your life…way too much to get into in full detail here and my intention isn’t really to promote or teach it).

“Again, it is simply a discipline that I’ve looked at over the years as it pertains to my own life. It draws on the ancient wisdom of the Chinese I’Ching, astrology, the Kabbalah, the Hindru-Brahmin Chakra system, neuroscience, and quantum physics. According to human design, I am what would be referred to as a 5/1 self-projected projector.”

Right – so you have been warned! Here we go.

1. “Invitation”

The life strategy for success for the projector is to wait to be invited, particularly when it comes to making important choices and decisions. If this strategy is not taken, the projector will often be met with rejection, failure, and disappointment.

2. “Conditioning”

Conditioning happens as a result of taking on the energy of others simply by being around them. I find it useful to take time to de-condition regularly by spending time alone, often in nature and away from the influence of others.

3. “Recognition”

A projector must be truly recognised by the right people for their strengths and what they have to offer in order to be given the correct invitations in those important areas of life. Otherwise, if a projector offers up insight, opinions, or advice without being recognized for what they have to offer, they are often met with resistance or ignored altogether.

4.  “The Heretic”

The 5/1 profile that I have is referred to as the Heretic Investigator. The first number, 5, is the conscious side of my personality, which is the heretic. This carries a quality of wanting to appear reliable to others with regard to any issue, yet it also carries the quality of not wanting to rely on others and feeling uncomfortable with asking for help. It relies heavily on reputation…a mask is worn so as not to disappoint others who may recognize the vulnerability of the 5/1. It makes it challenging to fully open up.

5. “The Waiting Breath”

As the projector waits and waits to be recognized and invited, all that can be done is to further master one’s strengths and to simply maintain a state of patience. Breathing patiently and calmly is key for the projector while in this waiting state.

6. “Neutrino Stream”

Neutrinos are very tiny particles with only a little bit of mass. Three trillion neutrinos pass through the universe per second, going through our bodies without us even being aware of this process. A Nobel Prize was awarded in 2015 to two scientists who proved that neutrinos have mass. A stream of neutrinos passes through us and influences our genes when we are born and determines our energetic blueprints (in other words, our unique designs).

7. “My Not-Self (Bitterness)”

When I do not wait to be invited and attempt to initiate only to be met with resistance and failure, a deep feeling of bitterness resonates. This is the signature of my not-self. On the other hand, the signature of my true self when correctly listening to my strategy and authority is the feeling of success.

8. “The Investigator”

Back to my 5/1 profile, I described the conscious side (the 5th line, which is the heretic side). The 1st line is my unconscious nature, my investigator side. On a simple level, I should always study a concept, discipline, or subject that interests me deeply before talking about it. Otherwise, it is of no benefit to myself or others.

9. “Yellow Ji”

In human design, the human body consists of 9 centers (like chakras). The Ji (G) center on a human design chart is a diamond located in the middle of the chest area. When it is defined, it is yellow (undefined centers are white, and the other centers each have different colors when defined). My Ji center is my center of authority. It is the place from which I am designed to make decisions.

10. “Guidance”

Projectors are the guides of the world. We make up roughly 20% of the population. We do not have our own energy stores…instead, we magnify the energy of those around us. We are not here to be the worker bees, so to speak, but are instead here to guide the energy types (generators and manifesting generators, who make up 70% of the population) to accomplish the physical work in the most efficient and optimal ways, like managers or guides.

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