The rising storyteller unpacks his debut album: a raw journey through heartbreak, ego, and the weight of indifference.
Roger Pearl’s Whatever Indifference Breeds is a confessional debut, blending hip-hop, R&B, and bedroom pop to map the fallout of lost love and self-sabotage.
Named after pirate ships but rooted in raw introspection, Roger Pearl’s project, the first in a five-album saga, dissects his flaws track by track.
From the prideful Good Intentions to the escapist Far Away, the album splits into two acts: a somber reckoning and a chaotic night out that crashes into clarity.
Here, Pearl unpacks each song’s role in his story, exposing vulnerability, arrogance, and fleeting hope. It’s a mirror held up to life’s messy transitions.
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Good Intentions
Good Intentions is the catalyst. It is the song that ignites the album, and it is driven by my desire to hold on to the things I want but don’t need. I struggle with accepting that those two things don’t always align and Good Intentions is what starts the journey. I break that feeling down to pride at the end of the day and I break down most internal conflicts within my existence down to pride and ego as well. It was inspired by me moving on from a long relationship and at the time I wasn’t going out or dating or anything.
I took a long time to myself, and in those days I’d find myself hoping to be back on good terms for reasons I didn’t fully understand. I, like many of us, have heard the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” and that, to me, spoke to my circumstance perfectly. Serving as a direct representation of me following my wants and as a representation of me wanting to do good in my life and constantly ending up in bad spots due to my focus being on the wrong things. That is why it is the catalyst, because once I realized that was what I was doing I saw a way to grow. Though that journey was long and ongoing, I knew that I was at least able to envision things I never once could.
Run Away
Run Away is a look into my desire for connection and my detachment from “meaningless” interactions. Whether that be one-night stands to entertaining things beyond where they currently were. It is to reflect on my disassociation from my role in my own cycle of loneliness. No matter what I did initially, nothing helped me not be lonely or feel the weight of the fear that I’d never be able to be “fixed”. This is to showcase my blindness to my choices and my indifference to life.
Roze Quartz
This was my first time writing something directly correlated to someone. I was finally dating or at least taking something serious and I couldn’t make it work. That stuck with me for a while after. This song was made to showcase my inability to accept that what I want isn’t what I can have. Not necessarily, not what I need but something that I just can’t make work. I was still too distorted and spread so mentally thin that I wasn’t able to nurture the connection as it needed.
There wasn’t anything wrong with her or us I just couldn’t allow myself to be present. One night she said, “I wish there was a song for whatever this is” and that night the song was born, though I didn’t actually write it until about 6 months later. This song shows how selfish I can be and how selfish I find the act of saying “I hope you’re ok” is. To me that isn’t genuinely checking on the person, it’s self-service with hopes that there’s a way back in, and that was the idea that drives this song. It is meant to sound loving, longing, and reminiscent but there is nothing for me in the past but pain and it deprives me from my present and possibly my future.
Ms. Gina
This is a shift in tempo and feeling because at this point in my journey, there was a shift in my life. I wasn’t sad and down but still stuck in many habits that I couldn’t shake. One being my expectation that people would come to me rather than me having to work my way to them. This was also my way to incorporate my friends into the project. The album is supposed to be everything that makes me, me, and my friends are an integral part of that.
However, I knew I wasn’t going to be writing a song for them and our relationship so I wanted to imbed them into the project in a different way. So I had them help me write small pockets and I had them record as background singers in the first draft of the song. This was my way to highlight the role they play in my life and how much they mean to me. Also at the time I was “crushing” on someone but there was no real way to even communicate with her. Through mutual friends, I heard she was interested but I was fully expecting that she would make the first move. At the time there were others in my life that were also interested and wanting to go out but I was trying to wait. So it was made to be a fun bouncy song, but at the heart of it is to showcase my arrogance.
Take Me Home
This song was made as a continuation of Ms. Gina and to showcase my propensity to daydream. I have issues with telling people how I feel and what I hope for in my relationships and this song is to showcase my apprehension and the idea that I’d rather her make things clear than actually make it happen.
No matter how much I want her I still am scared of what that looks like and the possible pain that brings. This song is made to be loving and passionate, but it showcases my unwillingness to fully commit to things without certainty of reciprocation.
Smile Interlude
This is the resetting point. This is a palette cleanser before the second phase of the album. It is meant to be the first hopeful song and first truly sweet song because at this point the 2nd half of the album is focused on my internal dialog rather than my actual actions. This is me seeing what I have in front of me and smiling at it knowing that I am holding baggage behind me.
Mom & Dad
This is meant to be a punch in the face. It is a stark change of pace and tone. Through all of my life and sadness and worries I still know tomorrow comes. This is to pay homage to the music and influence of my parents.
They both played a large role in my music and a large part of it was loud, assertive, and self confident. Also to show that as stated in the first lines even though I prefer to be a lover I have no expectation of that being reality. This song is fast and heavy handed to showcase my confidence and misplaced philosophies in life.
Bust A Move
This is a song that is made to be a fun song. It is really an ode to my friendships and the parties, and nights out we’d have. It even has a feature from one of my best friends on there because once again without them this project doesn’t exist and without them I’d rarely ever go out.
This is to be a smoother song and the first time I’m not focusing on a negative aspect of myself more so just my demeanor.
Love Through Time
This is me pouring into hip-hop. From my perspective, hip-hop is the most important genre for expression. That being said, I wanted to pay my respects to my culture and highlight black women rather than just talking about OutKast, 50, Rakim, Biggie, Pac, etc.. I wanted to highlight the 90s because that time period of music is the most impactful to my life. The artists of that time have created my preferences and go to’s when it comes to music today so I wanted to pay my respects while also showing off a little bit.
This song is meant to showcase my passion for hip-hop and my knowledge and dedication to music and my craft. All the while servicing the underlined theme by showing my 2-sided confidence where I’m timid yet firmly confident in what I can do. With the beginning being an internal conversation rather than an actual conversation with someone else. I’m giving myself the pointers and confidence to go and do what I’m nervous to do. Which is also the issue, how can one be timid while being the source of their own confidence? That imbalance is to be buried deep within the word play and the production to push home, that the craziest things can be accepted when presented the right way.
Far Away
I wrote this song to shed light on my escapism. At this point there are many unanswered things in the album. We have seemingly strayed from the obvious introspective and solemn sound to a more upbeat party sound, but it’s misleading. It is all a set up. The song was created because I was asked “can you make a song I can dance to”. I of course had a plan for the album so I didn’t immediately envision this song but a month later I wrote this because I wanted to work on more of a house sound and this came out.
Immediately I knew it was going to pair perfectly with the back half of the album because the back half isn’t just a change of pace from the bedroom pop sound but it is a museum of black music and influence. This closes out the 4 Pillars as I personally call them. The first 4 songs following the interlude flow as if they are following one night but they are all individual at the core. Being that there is more going on in the story they create than one would imagine much like there is always more to life than going out and partying but when I’m in that cycle it’s hard to see the deeper meaning. However once the dancing and the night is over I start to see life again or for the first time which leads to the last two songs.
Whatever Indifference Breeds
This is “the end of the night” or “the next morning” following the last 4 songs we’ve heard. This song is single-handedly the closest look at myself that I can ever provide. It’s broken into three parts. 1st being how I see myself and my worries about my role in my life and my friend’s lives. 2nd my focus on women and moments to push me forward through things that I’m living or have lived. 3rd my internal dialogue that circulates in my mind. The questions that I consistently ask and worry that I’ll never get answers to.
Closing on the largest thing that keeps me together within all of the fire – my faith – even though it is the first time it’s mentioned in the project it is the silent driver through all of who I am and what Roger Pearl is. It is the reason I see hope, the reason I push and demand change in myself, and the reason I began this journey to begin with. This song showcases my never-ending sadness and focus to one day be happy without knowing how to exactly go about that.
In The Rain
This is the end of the album and is more so the answer to “where does he end up at the end of this”. This was actually made the day after me and a dear friend fell apart. It is a direct representation of my feelings toward the loss. It is also what I would then see as the perfect end to the journey that “Whatever indifference Breeds” is. My indifference for many years of my life was a product of my pride and ego. I rarely allowed myself to be me because there was no need and yet I still grew to become best friends with someone and grew closer than I ever had to one person.
I sat with my sadness and my anger for a while. Then this song was born. It was something that was bittersweet because every song I ever made I’d send them immediately. The song is meant to be deeply introspective to the point it feels like there is no prospect of change or that my efforts have been for nothing. Though I am hopeful of things getting better I’m still stuck in the rain caused by my indifference and this is a direct result of what I’ve made. It is meant to not only be an outro but a direct 1-2 punch with Good Intentions. My intent is, to be better though I don’t know how to be and through my misguided views and ways of self healing I find myself in a different position while finally realizing I’m stuck in the position I’ve put myself in. It is to showcase my pain and self-doubt, self-loathing, and my hope to be more than I have been up to this point in my life.
And with that you have a completed album and have insight into me in ways I could’ve never fathomed of saying to anyone face to face. You also have now finished Chapter 1 and I hope that you are looking forward to the next 4 and whatever else is to come :)
Words by Roger Pearl.
