Many were taken aback by Alice Glass's announcement that she would be leaving Crystal Castles, including Drake's OVO Sound artist iLoveMakonnen. The "Tuesday" singer-rapper took it upon himself to express his thoughts on the split.
As published by The Fader, Makonnen shared what made Crystal Castles so special to him and the influence the group has had on his music:
I feel their music. It connects with me in a different way than other people's music does, and I'm pretty sad they broke up. My cousin Dream Panther put me on to them; he played me the song "Crimewave." That was, I wanna say, 2008. I was visiting him in LA and he played me that shit — it was a video performance — and I was like, "Wow, what the fuck is this?" It was a life-changing experience for me. I've always stayed a fan and have always looked out for their new shit on my own.
One of the only shows I went to here in Atlanta was a Crystal Castles show. I went with one friend, because a lot of my other friends aren't into Crystal Castles — or they weren't at the time. The show was great: the energy was great, the fans were real fans, I was going real crazy. Everybody enjoyed it. It was an experience. I want to have that energy. I want to have that feeling, like, I want people to get the feeling from my music that I got from Crystal Castles' music. I remember hearing their album II for the first time. I put it on in my house and that whole night I was in a trance, from the first song. I felt that energy come over my room. It changed everything for me, really. I started listening to their music hard for the whole year. I still have never stopped listening to it.
Glass took to Facebook Tuesday to make the announcement:
"I am leaving Crystal Castles," she wrote. "My art and my self-expression in any form has always been an attempt towards sincerity, honesty, and empathy for others. For a multitude of reasons both professional and personal I no longer feel that this is possible within CC. Although this is the end of the band, I hope my fans will embrace me as a solo artist in the same way they have embraced Crystal Castles."
Check out Crystal Castles performing below:
