In honor of Black History Month, Atwood Magazine has invited artists to participate in a series of essays reflecting on identity, music, culture, inclusion, and more.

•• •• •• ••

Today, Nashville-based alt-R&B singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Casper Sage shares his ruminations on being a Black artist in America for Atwood Magazine’s Black History Month series!

Casper Sage finds inspiration in unlikely places. The 23-year-old singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist makes songs as introspective and nostalgic as they are lush and propulsive—a genre-of-one he calls Afro-Surrealist Dreamcore inspired equally by massive forces (nature, math) and very specific things, like Kerry James Marshall’s unsettling portraits or Tony Soprano’s dream sequences. “I want it to feel like you’re floating,” says Sage. “That’s the balance I’m going for: relaxing but also stimulating.” His Warner Records debut EP ‘SAGEhaven’ – featuring genre upstarts midwxst and amindi – accomplishes that with songs that are heady, moving, and grounded in the personal.

Born in Oklahoma City and bored “by the culture of doing what everyone else does,” Sage has long sought rarer forms of connection. In 2019, he released ‘Winter,’ a vibrant mix of song and rap that dove deep into emotion and experimentation. From there, he honed his craft on his own — from the 2020 track “Frank Ocean Playing in Heaven” to a 2022 cover of Dijon’s “Rodeo Clown” — and formally too, attending Belmont University in Nashville, where he finds inspiration in being the rare R&B artist “sonically and emotionally pulling from somewhere far away.”

Yearning is central to his music’s appeal and, to Sage, a means of discovery. He feels a sense of reciprocity from the universe — that whatever he seeks him back. “I believe all things are interconnected,” he says, wise beyond his years. “When we create something new, we’re returning to something familiar.”

Read Sage’s full essay below and stay tuned for news of his upcoming EP, set to release later this year!

•• ••

•• ••

THE SOUND OF BECOMING

by Casper Sage

Blackness is not just something I carry – it is something I create with.

It’s in the way I shape melodies, stretch words, and build soundscapes that feel like home, even when I’m still defining what home means.

I was born and raised in Oklahoma City, a place that shaped me in ways I’m still unpacking. The city has its own rhythm, its own history, but being a Black artist there meant learning how to carve out my own lane – how to exist in a space where my version of Blackness didn’t always feel reflected. I had to build my own world, and music became the way I did that.

Now, living in Nashville, I find myself in yet another transition. The energy here is different – rooted in tradition but constantly evolving. As a Black musician in a city known for country and Americana, I’m part of a growing wave of artists reshaping expectations, pushing the culture forward, and proving that our voices belong in every space.

That search for warmth – finding light in unfamiliar spaces, turning something cold into something full of life – is what inspired my new single, “Nu Division” (out in early March) featuring Amindi. The song is about renewal, about making a cold heart warm again. It’s about love in its most transformative form – the kind that doesn’t just change you but gives you new life. Sonically, it reflects that journey, the shift from isolation to connection, from guarded to open.

That theme expands into my forthcoming EP, SAGEhaven – a space where I can be my fullest self, uninhibited.

The project is both a sanctuary and a statement: a reflection of where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m headed. It’s an homage to the Black artists who shaped me – D’Angelo’s warmth, André 3000’s freedom, Sade’s patience – while pushing towards something uniquely my own.

For me, making music isn’t just about expression. It’s about preservation. It’s about documenting the nuances of Black life as I experience it, in all its beauty and contradiction. SAGEhaven is an extension of that mission.

This Black History Month, I celebrate the artists who made space for voices like mine. The ones who taught me that music is more than sound – it’s legacy. And with every song, I hope to add to that legacy in a way that feels honest, true, and boundless. – Casper Sage

•• ••

:: connect with Casper Sage here ::

•• ••

•• •• •• ••

Connect to Casper Sage on
Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook

Discover new music on Atwood Magazine

 © Connor Peterson

:: Stream Casper Sage ::