FatPH’s origins lie in Angel learning of the theory that spirituals originating from the enslaved population in the antebellum southeastern US were used by said population to communicate and coordinate without arousing suspicion of white authorities. Angel became interested in using such a spiritual as a musical point of departure for a work about Nat Turner’s Rebellion.This eventually culminated in FatPH’s debut album, Southampton Insurrection, which is an embellished telling of the events surrounding the historical event Nat Turner’s Rebellion.

Written during the uprisings in response to George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police, Southampton Insurrection attempts to lyrically draw parallels between those uprisings and Nat Turner’s Rebellion as well as wrestle with what it is to be a person of privilege wanting to contribute to liberatory movements but is unsure how. Angel tells this tale through the lens of proggy death metal in the vein of Between the Buried and Me and Lamb of God with the soulful melodicism of Killswitch Engage and Periphery. Musical elements such as sacred choir, blues harmony, and old-time string music evoke the setting of the antebellum southeastern US.

Angel knows high-minded rhetoric about marginalized peoples rings hollow without material support. He’s also aware that his use of spirituals in his music can be credibly accused of cultural appropriation. Therefore, the only moral course of action for him is to give 50% of proceeds from sales of and related to Southampton Insurrection to Feed the People Collective, a POC-led, grassroots organization committed to teaching urban farming to and cooking local produce to make healthy, delicious meals for the people of occupied Ramaytush Ohlone land.