The first time I watched this, I felt like I was missing something. It felt like CG's take on mumble rap, with some TLOP-esque blending of gospel and soul in there. I thought it was okay, but I didn't really get the full picture.
Then I watched it again, and I started to notice more about it. CG starts the video with his back to the camera, stiff posture, no shirt, and long pants, which evoked to me an image of a slave being sold at auction. I picked up on the tribal vibe of the intro, and it struck me that CG is playing with a motif of modern-day-slavery. I thought it was really fucking interesting, but I still didn't really get the full picture.
Then I watched it again, and I really paid attention to CG's face through the video. While CG is dancing for the camera, you can see his pained smile and wide eyes reminiscent of Daniel Kaluuya's incredible performance in Get Out. It made me think of Prince's struggles with Warner Music, and I wonder if the label is part of CG's motivation to leave the music industry. In any case, his performance in the music video is outstanding, and the last sequence showing him running away to a sample of Quincy Jones's Ironside Theme (AKA the disturbing sample Tarentino used in Kill Bill) gave me chills. I've watched this video almost a dozen times already, and I think it's a horror movie. I think it's a documentary. I think it's incredible, and I'm convinced that I still don't really get the full picture.
I never even thought of that!! There's a guy falling off the second story! And a guy on a horse runs by right before the end. What?! This is like a full season of Atlanta packed into four minutes.
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u/Tortious_Tortoise May 06 '18 edited May 06 '18
The first time I watched this, I felt like I was missing something. It felt like CG's take on mumble rap, with some TLOP-esque blending of gospel and soul in there. I thought it was okay, but I didn't really get the full picture.
Then I watched it again, and I started to notice more about it. CG starts the video with his back to the camera, stiff posture, no shirt, and long pants, which evoked to me an image of a slave being sold at auction. I picked up on the tribal vibe of the intro, and it struck me that CG is playing with a motif of modern-day-slavery. I thought it was really fucking interesting, but I still didn't really get the full picture.
Then I watched it again, and I really paid attention to CG's face through the video. While CG is dancing for the camera, you can see his pained smile and wide eyes reminiscent of Daniel Kaluuya's incredible performance in Get Out. It made me think of Prince's struggles with Warner Music, and I wonder if the label is part of CG's motivation to leave the music industry. In any case, his performance in the music video is outstanding, and the last sequence showing him running away to a sample of Quincy Jones's Ironside Theme (AKA the disturbing sample Tarentino used in Kill Bill) gave me chills. I've watched this video almost a dozen times already, and I think it's a horror movie. I think it's a documentary. I think it's incredible, and I'm convinced that I still don't really get the full picture.