Yelawolf and manager/business partner Edward Crowe fully embrace the fact that they took copious amounts of LSD growing up and became intimately acquainted with the perforated (and often intricately designed) blotter paper. From unique psychedelic artwork to simple 2D symbols printed on each hit, the style was intriguing to Crowe. To Wolf, it symbolized the “effort and care of the dose.” As he told High Times, “The better the art, likely the better your journey will be.”
Crowe grew interested in making their own blotter art after implementing the style for Yelawolf’s 2021 album, Mudmouth, and its accompanying film with the help of longtime friend/visual artist Fernando Travis.
After two years of collaborating on the Edward Crowe x Slumerican Blotter Art campaign, Crowe and Wolf have returned with the third iteration, this time to honor Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann—widely credited as the first person to synthesize and ingest LSD—Hofmann’s annual Bicycle Day (April 19), a commemoration of his first LSD trip in 1943 and subsequent bicycle ride home to experience its effect, and the esoteric idea of amalgamation.
“Wolf and I have been close for many years,” Crowe explained. “We met when we were around 13. We have always been like brothers, but in the last three years or so, we have found a workflow and our version of a superpower between the two of us that I’ve never seen in any other partnership. We have a unique balance that allows us to stay on a consistent path of elevation. Almost like we have done this before over many lifetimes.”
And Wolf and Crowe wanted to communicate that with the blotter art. Amalgamation, which represents the process of two separate entities merging together to form one much more powerful energy or entity, is at the crux. The intent is to represent “the mojo,” as Crowe put it, that comes to life when two people put their minds, ideas and energy together to attain greatness. The amalgamation symbol also resembles a tuning fork, representing the notion that we are on one frequency.
“There’s a lot of power in three for sure,” Wolf said. “But when Edward and I set out to do something, we don’t stop. This will be annual at this point. I’m more interested in the ninth one if you want to talk about the significance of numerology. Nine is the last of the single digits, symbolizing the end of a cycle and preparation for a new beginning. It can represent the final stage before an initiatory rebirth.”
The artwork and photos of the blotter art itself, shot by photographer Mike Lane, lean toward the mystical and occult and, as Wolf pointed out, numerology is a part of that.
“Everything in the photos have a purpose,” Crowe added. “For instance, me and Wolf signed our management agreement in Stockholm, Sweden in 2020. In lieu of that and our celebration of 3, there are 300 Swedish francs on the table. The time on the watch I’m wearing is the date and time my mother was born.
“There are ashes from my mom, my dog Chinchilla, our friend’s Pops, and sand from the Great Pyramid with an empty Cicada shell on top, representing the transformation from physical to spiritual. What we perceive as the finality of death is actually the beginning of a new life. Even though the shell was left behind, the Cicada flew away to fulfill life’s purpose.”
While there are many more symbols hidden within each photo displaying the blotter art, Crowe prefers that people “recognize these Easter eggs on their own.” And Wolf is happy to let Crowe take the reins on this particular project.
“I typically let Edward take the wheel on the art direction in this department,” he said. “It’s fun to watch him let loose artistically. After all, we met as painters when we were kids.”
Granted, their experimentation with psychedelics started at a young age, when they were perhaps naive to how they really worked, but they’ve graduated to very deliberate and thought-out trips, something that Crowe explains in a letter that’s included with the blotter art.
“The letter explains a little bit about the tribute to Albert Hofmann and the world’s first LSD trip, and the second half is usually an idea that was born from my most recent trip,” he said. “This year, me and Wolf worked together to write the second half. The whole idea is amalgamation; it was only right.”
But, at the same time, Crowe recognized the risks that come with taking LSD and encouraged people to always be cautious when experimenting. There are certain tests that can be done, including an Ehrlich reagent spot test, that can help identify potentially a bad dose.
“Just like anything, psychedelics are a double-edged sword,” he continued. “Under the right circumstances, they are medicine, but in the wrong or uneducated hands, they’re drugs and can be very dangerous. I don’t encourage drug use, but if someone sets out to do LSD, I recommend they test it with an Ehrlich reagent before ingesting. Any other approach, in my opinion, is a roll of the dice and should be avoided. There are a lot of research chemicals with unknown side effects out there that people sell disguised as LSD, and it’s important to always test.”
For Yelawolf, he has his own horror story involving psychedelics.
“I dove off the deep end way too young,” he revealed. “Many, many, many acid trips, mushrooms, et cetera, before I took it too far and almost never came back. I’m talkin’ months in a never-ending trip. It was the scariest shit I’ve ever been through. So yeah, spiritually, I went to hell for the first time. It altered me forever. “
With the wisdom of experience now firmly embedded in his psyche, Wolf can make more informed choices about when, where and how he interacts with psychedelics—and often that includes a bike.
“I didn’t even know who Albert Hoffman was or the bicycle thing,” Wolf admitted. “But when I was stuck in my trip, all I wanted to do was ride my bike. I don’t know what that means, but I’m sure it’s some shit my spirit needed.”
Crowe, meanwhile, remains inspired by old Masonic, alchemical, religious and occult imagery, which is evident in this year’s Edward Crowe x Slumerican Blotter Art project.
“Blotter art for me is nostalgic,” he concluded. “It’s something that I was fascinated with growing up. A lot of psychedelic art is more fun and colorful, and I’m into it. But I personally take this all very seriously. I like that to be reflected in the final product, so our blotter art is in line with the subculture but dead serious at the same time. I enjoy working with great artists to deliver something authentic.”
Photos courtesy of Yelawolf and Edward Crowe
