How many of your favorite artists create their best work in the midst of existential crisis? It has to be somewhat disconcerting to hear a project from a fave and figure in the back of our heads that, “they must’ve been going through some shit when creating this.” So much of the best art comes from a painful place. What is the artist who recognizes that about themselves to do when things are going well?
Ithaca, NY rapper/producer Sammus explores just that on “The Feels”, a characteristically candid track in which she ponders why “party people love my baggage.”
“The hottest rhyme that I ever wrote, I was lonely, tired, single, hella broke,” Sammus belts at the beginning of the latest single from her Infusion EP.
She collaborated with Queens-based director Vrinda Jagota to create “The Feels’” video, a fuzzy retro work which cleverly parallels the theme of the song.
Sammus is playing with a yo-yo. She’s mixing cream into her coffee. Ice cream is melting. These scenes “speak to the evolving status of an artist,” Sammus notes via e-mail. Jagota had sought to work with Sammus for awhile, and the two quickly developed a treatment. The video was filmed over the course of several days in Ridgewood, New York.
Sammus radiates jubilance in the video, eating cotton candy and blowing bubbles while in Loumingou face paint. Taking the lyrics into account however, the work gives off a “graceful swan furiously kicking under the water” vibe. After a career of penning inspiring work through her own doldrums, she’s coming close to mastering the balance.
