Marlon Craft
Photo Credit: Sen Floyd
Photo Credit: Dylan Stiga
Sometimes all you need is you and the music.
When Whodini asked how many of us had real friends, a lot of us probably shouted the rest of the hook with our so-called friends in tow. But before the Brooklyn hip-hop group released their hit song in 1984, the sentiments that inspired them probably sounded more like Marlon Craft's track of the same name, "Friends."
For his latest visual directed by John Tashiro, the Hell's Kitchen rapper walks through an abandoned building which could serve as a metaphor for his inner thoughts. He moves from watching himself rehearse for a live show to a house party to a work meeting to finally his own studio where he confronts himself. His lyrics of putting up with self-doubt, fake friends, and a lack of desire to go out are all closely reflected in the cinematic video. It's interesting to note the scenes in which he interacts with himself: the early scene in the rehearsal space and the closing scene in the studio. It feels like a message that inner peace starts and ends with yourself.
But in his own words, Craft tells Okayplayer that the meeting with himself was about "being enough for yourself." He continues, "the mind is a really powerful thing and it's its own maze. You really gotta explore and make maps and shit if you wanna conquer your inclinations and understand yourself. So it's all about the willingness to do internal work and watch yourself think and be."
It was this feeling of internal solitutde and coming to terms with that on his own time that allowed him to build up the close circle of friends he now rocks with.
"I've dealt with anxiety my whole life and music always been the medicine," Craft explains.
And if Craft's music helped you get through something today, let him know that the next time you see him at a show.
"Friends" comes off of Marlon Craft's last EP, A Dollar In Quarters: 50c, which you can also stream below.
