Rock 'N Seoul

Today we start with a generic introduction, because honestly my mind is too full of… stuff to even begin to write something creative. So here it is:

Dumbfoundead dropped his video for his latest single “Murals.”

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…

Honestly when it comes to Dumbfoundead I’m always left both amazed and proud. Amazed at his vision, his honesty, and his ability to paint masterpieces into his bars. Proud because I remember the first time I saw him rap. A battle between him and Conceited. I knew then that there was something almost magical about the way he approached his lyricism, the way he could infuse humor with his truth and get a crowd heavily biased against him to see only him.

With the video for “Murals,” not only do we get much of his quintessential humor, even more we get his incredible depth, his bravado, his fearlessness. With his lyrical imagery he takes listeners on a journey. With the visuals production team Proper Form put on the screen, however, we get a very visceral, almost haunting representation of real, honest life: love and war, flourishing life and heartbreaking death.

There are layers to this video, as there are almost unending layers to the song itself—one of my favorites on the album (more on that in my review). Even sporting cameos from some well-known names (including Hi-Lite Records rapper G2), the video is not at all about flash, not about looking cute or pretty to get views. It’s a complete picture of someone from K-Town, all set in front of the Catalina liquor store. Every frame is a moment in a neighborhood’s collective history: from corner beef, to your cousin’s graduation, children playing and ripping off the local shop owner, to reference to the LA Riots following the acquittal of four policemen in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. The MV is in your face and completely unapologetic.

What I took away from this video besides a rejuvenation of my adoration of Dummy, is really a very simple message:  the more things change, the more they stay the same. All these images you can see right now in 2016 and identify with. I think what Dummy has always been able to tap into is the hard truth that everybody living in this country can connect to.

And just like the constant ebb and flow of a hood’s history, Dummy wants to, and will be, remembered—his lyrics will stay painted in everyone’s minds as his image on the liquor store on Catalina.