[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.886012&w=425&h=350&fv=videoId%3D32784332001%26playerID%3D29888952001%26%26domain%3Dembed%26]
EW (No YN) is debutin’ rap videos now? What part of the game is this? SMH.
Watch EW’s exclusive premiere of the video for the track “Hey Playa (Moroccan Blues),” shot in Los Angeles and the Adelanto desert. Believe it or not, both the music and video was actually inspired by a recent trip the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern took to Morocco.
“When he [Zimmern] went to a restaurant,” says Quik. “There was a man playing music, the house musician. He had this little stringed instrument and was strumming it so in-tune with the environment — it was crazy. So I sampled it and put a beat to it and later, Andrew even liked it and let me put it in our music.”
Sidebar: Finally started listening to BlaQKout and it’s almost as good as my White critic friends say. Ha!
Great breakdown of Statik Selektah’s *Round Trip*! Honestly, this 2023 Mass Appeal release is pure boom-bap bliss from start to finish. Statik really outdid himself with those smooth, jazzy sample flips and turntable scratches, creating the exact kind of laid-back, golden-era hip-hop vibe you want playing in the background while relaxing at Denmark holiday cottages over a quiet weekend. The guest list alone is stacked—having legends like Posdnous kicking things off on the opener "Round Trip (For Dave)" alongside heavy hitters like Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Inspectah Deck on "Unpredictable" makes every track feel like a proper event. Even the newer-school features like Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, and Joey Bada$$ fit effortlessly over the dusty, soulful production without a single wasted verse. Definitely one of his most cohesive projects in years and an easy front-to-back spin for anyone who appreciates real hip-hop craftsmanship.