Artist Miguel celebrated his 40th birthday, a milestone he called "Man what a trip", and discussed the launch of his new album, Chaos (or Caus, the Spanish pronunciation), during an appearance on BETNetworks’ BET Talks with host Mia Bell. The new album marks a significant cycle in his career, defined by a refining process that was "fun," "arduous," and "painful at times". Miguel explained that his focus was not on chasing a new audience but on "honoring the audience that has given me their time and their love and their attention", aiming to create a deeper, sonic conversation about change and the "nonlinear nature of change".
The central theme of the album is "peace through chaos". Miguel elaborated that "at the core of peace there has to be chaos" and an "aggressive approach to finding the answers that benefit the whole". He views chaos as "essential to peace", a necessary part of life’s cycles to figure out "what the best version of peace is next". The album posits that while Chaos offers the right conditions for growth, it demands an "aggressive stance" to affect the necessary change, requiring artists to be "aggressively vigilant" to avoid falling into old patterns.
The album cover imagery, which is designed to "naturally raises questions" and avoid misinterpretation, is an homage to a celebration across a few Latin and African cultures called La Mascara Diablo. Miguel explained that this celebration marks the freeing of African slaves in Meong from their slave masters. He draws a parallel between this liberation and the Buddhist belief to "invite Mara to tea"—or, to "invite your demons or your shadows to tea" to better understand them, as opposed to avoiding and thereby "empowering them". This "shadow work" is central to the album’s meaning and serves as an opportunity to "educate my audience" through the visuals.
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In creating Chaos, Miguel had to let go of "a lot of expectation" and pour himself into the intention of "connecting deeper" with his audience, giving them more insight into his own challenges as a human being. He hopes this creates conversations that remind listeners that "we all got things that we're trying to overcome". Records like "New Martyr" are inspired by a collective angst and discontent with the current state of affairs and the playing out of "extremism". The song "RIP" (which can be interpreted as "rage in peace or riot in peace or to rest in peace") calls attention to the fact that "it hurts to be human sometimes".
To deal with the inherent hurt of being human, Miguel shared that he is trying his best to "pay attention to my body" and "honor my limits" by putting up necessary boundaries. He relies on therapy and "holding yourself accountable" and taking responsibility for those things. Miguel acknowledged that he has had to "rage in peace" and "riot in peace" to get through the last eight years that led up to this album.
In this new phase of life, which includes fatherhood, Miguel has written new rules for himself: "do more speak less". He emphasizes the importance of leading and choosing with one’s principles and paying attention to "how you want to feel". When the answer isn't clear, he asks: "how do they speak to how I want to feel?" because in a time when "the facts are questionable" and "a truth is skewed," this provides a clarifying force. He is currently a scholar in residence at NYU, where he believes being a teacher entails that one "continue to be a student", noting that remaining a student is "probably paramount".
Miguel asserted that he has "no rules" for his musical future. He will "never say I'll never make this kind of music or that kind of music", confident that his "real audience" will hear him in all of it because he is the same person, the same chef "behind the dish," who has "never changed". He confirmed he will be on tour in February and "all next year", promising a show that will be "fun," "energetic," "personal," and very "intimate". Personally, to cultivate his current growth, he is meditating, grounding, spending as much time as he can laughing and loving with his son and his mother, and doing his best to "see positivity" and lock into the "hope that my son has really brought back".
