Kashus Culpepper Works With Foy Vance, Hints at Faith in Mysterious ‘Believe’: ‘It’s a Collection of Thoughts’

“Sometimes your enemies/Come in the form of a friend.”

Much of the new Kashus Culpepper single — “Believe,” which Big Loud released to radio on Sept. 3 via PlayMPE — is menacing. What the bad stuff is, isn’t necessarily clear. A drug deal, a robbery, gang activity, a lie, a murder? Cases could be made for all of those scenarios — or none of them — it doesn’t particularly matter. But “Believe” most certainly hints at betrayal, like Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty,” though instead of Mexico, it’s cast in the Southern United States, judging from its swampy musical tone and Culpepper’s Alabama roots. It’s steeped in mystery and probably best left that way.

“I wouldn’t say it was a full, cohesive story,” Culpepper explains. “It’s a collection of thoughts, especially the verses. You know,