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Photo courtesy of Playbook Agency
Photo courtesy of Playbook Agency
Sit down, front row, and witness the rumblings of Nevelle's strained psychee.
The idea that the real ones can't die is a familiar trope in hip-hop. It can take the shape of a rebellious attitude like when MC Ren shouted "Real n*ggas don't die cause they eventually multiply" or when Tupac echoed that same line in his freestyle at The Tunnel with the Notorious B.I.G... But for others like Nevelle Viracocha, there's a louder, internal conversation going on behind the defiance.
In the new video for "Multiply" from the Alabama artist by way of Atlanta, we are presented with several versions of himself. There is the blind piano player setting the mood with a lush melody. Perhaps this is the part of him that knows how everything plays out but is unable to do anything, hence the physical handicap. Then there is the imprisoned Nevelle who symbolizes his natural instinct to resist and fights to be freed of insecurities and fears. And finally a posh, white-suited Nevelle comes to be entertained by what he would probably call his "primitive" self. Hopefully, if all plays out the way Nevelle planned it, he will free himself another night under the watchful eye of his conscious. The artist summed up the inspiration for the song's tension as the "people who know what it feels like to be the underdog. I'm speaking to those who didn’t start out in first place but refuse to finish last. A reminder that you have to face your reality before you can change it. 'Multiply' is the thought process that we are built to overcome any hurdle set before us; even when we die, we never really die. Church music for sinners, redemption for the lost, that’s what we create. 'Multiply' to me is the story of trials and tribulations. Tragedies turned into triumph!"
Director Spencer Sease makes sure to capture plenty of camera movements and visual cues, like smoke bombs, to keep your mind racing as fast as Nevelle's. The hectic nature compresses on top of how it must all play out in his mind in real life. While MC Ren and Tupac are confident that their hustler ambition will inspire others and therefore multiply, Nevelle internalizes that replication in a precarious way.
"Multiply" comes off of Nevelle's upcoming debut album, Astral Hour, due out May 4th of this year. It will be the followup to his 2016 debut EP Eff/Pee/Ohh. He described Astral Hour to Okayplayer as "an audio visitation of the highs and lows of life. What basic human emotions we face would sound like if given a voice. We all go through the motions, this project will make those motions a little easier to bear.”
Watch Nevelle Viracocha's "Multiply" produced by 7iLENT below:
