The title caught my attention.
I came across ‘Nigga Needs’ as we were curating this months TESTIFY Video Playlist. Starkingly simple, set in a white art gallery while nursing a bullet wound to his abdomen, Boogie expresses the changes he needs in his life in a such vulnerably honest way that I couldn’t help but pay attention.
The music, produced by Keyel, Joey Levesque, Domenica Castro and Davida Williams has a soulful dirty backbeat that sways heavy. HEAVY. Something about them keys man, them samples, convoluted together in a pot of jumbalya makes your top sway while watching directors Ricky + China‘s visual interpretation of ‘Nigga Needs’ unfold.
As the video progresses you see how Boogie’s being watched, his art interepted by others in a gallery, all-the-while bleeding, black eyed, beat up… he’s still going. Objectified, small, a piece one could look at and leave, he remains undetered in his message, while observers continue to on-look with varying degrees of interest.
I really appreciate ‘ Nigga Needs’ and hope more records that push the creative bounds of expression continue to extend from hip hop’s current state, all the while gaining more recognition. Dope.
