The Audacity of Dope

Recently, J. Moore and I got a chance to sit down with Diplo, Walshy Fire, and Jillionaire, collectively known as Major Lazer backstage at their Showbox SODO show in Seattle.  The fellas were real cool and we chopped it up about their upcoming Free The Universe album and the Lazer Strikes Back series of EP’s they’re releasing leading up to the project.  We also spoke about life on the road, including their favorite shows, US vs. international crowds, and what it’s like to perform at huge festivals like SXSW and Ultra.  They told some stories about working on the new Snoop Lion album as well, including what it means when Snoop shows up to the studio without his Xbox.

Shout to Detooz Films on the filming and editing.  And if you haven’t seen the crew’s new video for “Watch Out For This (Bumaye) with Busy Signal, The Flexican, and FS Green, peep the dopeness:

The yin to my last post’s yang, I LOVE this record, but the video is too creepy for me.  I almost feel like if they just put Nabil’s “Swim Good” visuals to this track, it might turn out real dope.  Eh well, I’ll cope.

Bridget Kelly, on the other hand, must feel a little sideways about this song getting visuals after Frank supposedly wrote it for her Roc Nation project…

The long awaited video for Frank’s “Swim Good” finally dropped and, as expected with all Nabil directed visuals, it’s clean, dope, and a little twisted. This is actually one of my least favorite tracks on Nostalgia…Ultra, but that’s not really an indictment because the project as a whole is incredible.  If any of the records could potentially catch on to radio after “Novacane” finishes its run (still my song of the year), it’s this one.  Here’s hoping the mass public continues to take notice of Frank.

Oh, and you always win points with me for any panda or samurai references.  Well done guys.

I was excited to see that my frontrunner for song of the year had a video, and then completely geeked to see Frank linked up with one of the best directors out, Nabil Elderkin, for the “Novacane” visuals. Great record, dope effects, NSFW boobies, a bad ass white tiger, and…you already know…a panda. Could you ask for anything more?

The answer is, of course, yes. I would have loved to see the full song, but sometimes life slaps you back to reality rather abruptly…just to see if you can feel your face.

As soon as I saw the still for this video, I noticed Frank and director Dave Wilson didn’t actually use an Integra, but as Mr. Ocean mentioned on his blog, the visuals were a “decent excuse to drive a NSX through mountains.”  I’m not mad one bit.  The song itself is simply constructed, with Frank riffing over an Adele-esque piano loop, so the video is a fitting accompaniment.

However, I am a little salty that I can’t see a NSX without thinking of one of my exes, who was obsessed with them hahaha.  What up girrrrrrrrrl?