{"product_id":"pre-order-chester-watson-fish-dont-climb-trees-lp","title":"PRE-ORDER: Chester Watson \"Fish don't climb trees\" LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHIS IS A PRE-ORDER: We expect this to ship on or around SEPTEMBER 4th, 2026. Any items ordered with this will be held until they can ship together. If you need other items faster please place a separate order for those items.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough Chester Watson is only 26, the St. Louis-born rapper and producer has seen enough for several lifetimes-and raps as if he's tapped into many more. But after a few years of highs, lows, and traumatic odysseys, he was able to stare straight into the abyss and conquer it. The regained confidence is exhibited on fish don't climb trees, the largely self-produced new album that reaffirms him as one of rap's great auteurs. The willingness to both expand his repertoire laterally and dive deeper down each rabbit hole has made Watson's one of the most quietly rewarding catalogs in hip-hop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBeing true to his fractured, discordant feelings requires a prismatic approach. And so you get fish's exhilarating hairpin turns: from downtempo dub (\"bora bora\") to 808s rattling through a haunted house (\"tourniquet\"), beats that sound as if they're molting into new shapes in real time (the two-song suite of \"daze\" and \"grey theory\") to ones that that plunge to the bottom of a pocket (\"spirits\"). Over all of these, Watson proves more dexterous than ever as both a writer and vocalist, able to get his point across in ten syllables or two, in a full sprint or with his feet planted firmly in the mud. The album's title comes from the maybe-apocryphal Einstein quote, about how a fish judged by it's ability to climb trees will \"spend it's whole life believing it is stupid.\" For Watson, this meant embracing the cheery first half of the quote (\"Everybody is a genius\"), but also being cognizant of the dark undercurrents that flow just beneath seemingly innocent misjudgments and mis-categorizations. \"As a Black person, we're always judged on criteria that are literally meaningless,\" he says. With fish don't climb trees, he's committed to only one set of standards: his own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eTrack List:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e1 Fish Don't Climb Trees\u003cbr\u003e2 East End\u003cbr\u003e3 Eyes Closed\u003cbr\u003e4 Tourniquet\u003cbr\u003e5 Money \u0026amp; Love\u003cbr\u003e6 Bora Bora\u003cbr\u003e7 Daze\u003cbr\u003e8 Grey Theory\u003cbr\u003e9 I Feel Alive\u003cbr\u003e10 Spirits\u003cbr\u003e11 Mirrors\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"col-lg-12 pt-2\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pt-2\"\u003estreet date 9\/4\/2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"col-lg-12 pt-2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Alliance","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45155425452232,"sku":"634457139985","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0628\/1337\/2616\/files\/4531416-3679527.jpg?v=1785533312","url":"https:\/\/1234gorecords.shop\/products\/pre-order-chester-watson-fish-dont-climb-trees-lp","provider":"1-2-3-4 Go! Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}