Adam’s Fall. Odysseus’ descent. Moses’ Exodus. The Hero’s Journey. Throughout history and across culture and continent, the journey of man into the unknown has been the requisite for personal and spiritual alchemy. Every new experience requires a letting go; every new growth requires a ritual shedding of skin.

While our culture wrestles with the fate of mankind, including the role, recoil, and responsibility of men, many are returning to the myths that created our modern stories—the meta-truths from which we formulate our exercisable order and ethics. Chief of these meta-truths is Initiation: the crossing into a new state, with new access, new authority, and new responsibility, at a price named by the initiator. KATABASIS is my journey of initiation—the price was my descent and my ego, the product my pearls of wisdom, embodied through song and story.

Btw, this is Afika here writing this. The simple explanation is I’m doing a one-man show because it is the only thing that will bring me any kind of peace in this wild World. God, the Universe, Spirit Energy, ancestors, the All (or even my own private neuroses), and even my Wellness coach—something won’t leave me alone until I share these songs and lessons I’ve written. What an attendee/participant would experience will feel like a premeditated, semi-cinematic, highly ordered ritual. The reality is they’ll be viewing nothing but a nearly-finished puzzle. A crude puzzle with not many pieces. The magic is that the puzzle is the image of a human soul in transition and dangerous discovery, in thievery of the Golden Key beneath the queen’s pillow, holding the head of a dragon while staring down a dragon flock, all represented and shared through our most powerful medium of information exchange—quality songwriting—the finished product made of puzzle pieces lost and discovered across time. That’s probably too wordy, and might not even make sense.

Wanna hear how Frank Ocean would approach country music? That’s a good reason to come out. Wanna hear what it sounds like when an award-winning rapper embraces his award-winning guitar playing? Also a good reason to come out. Wanna hear what happens when you move from Brooklyn to the North Carolina countryside, fall in love with someone and out of love with yourself, then spend a year in monk-like isolation to rediscover that self-love? That’s the best reason to come out.

But don’t take it from me—Here’s what ChatGPT says about the show: “Called ‘KATABASIS: the story of Genesis told through breakup songs and dark humor,’ this one man show promises to be a tour-de-force of music and storytelling. With his signature wit and elevated irreverence, Afika takes us on a journey through the biblical book of Genesis, using his original songs as a lens through which to view the timeless stories of creation, temptation, and redemption.” Damn, Chat. Even robots get it… #nailedit

Whether you're a fan of my music or just looking for a thought-provoking evening of storytelling and entertainment, KATABASIS isn’t the type of typical indie concert to abort for Netflix and Epsom salts. With its eclectic mix of genres, from pop to folk to rock to hip-hop, and a therapeutic blend of humor and darkness, it promises to be a singular and unforgettable experience. Come along for the ride, and join me in the twists and turns, in’s and out’s, high’s and low’s of the immeasurable human experience.

To read more about the concept of KATABASIS, check out these links:

The Descent of the Soul: Katabasis and Depth Psychology. (Blog)

Friday essay: Journeys to the Underworld—Greek Myth, Film, and American Anxiety. (Journal article from The Conversation)

A Round-Trip Ticket to the Underworld: The Classical Theme of Katabasis in Modern Cinema. (Scholarly article)

The King’s Path of Initiation (Youtube video, Elliot Hulse)

KATABASIS: Life’s Most Pivotal Process. (Podcast episode, BookChanging Podcast)