By Mustafa Abubaker
Music video director turned recording artist Rahul has revealed not one but two demos within a week, respectively titled “new balance” and “FLX”.
At just 1:14, “new balance” has little to do with the beloved dad sneaker but much more to do with the balance in a newly formed relationship… or maybe the refreshed balanced in a months or even years long relationship. You decide. A black girl searches for Rahul in the opening frame. When she finds him with the help of her flashlight on a black and blue May spring night. Television and film script take up screen space as the footage rolls on, spoon-feeding the fan. Rahul’s in a bathroom next to his girl but he’s looking the other way. His girl’s facing the mirror. They’re both brushing their teeth. A rather cute scene of a happy couple rolling out a carpet in what looks like a new apartment with two moving boxes in the back looks like it could be straight out of a heartfelt moment with a romantic movie. What’s a 2024 music video for a demo without a little nostalgia? A photographer shoots a flick of Rahul and his girl outside of their new pad on a OneStep Flash Polaroid. It’s pinned to the fridge…. next to bills with red stamps reading PAST DUE. She throws the papers in his face and walks off screen. It ends with a shot of the two having breakfast together. OJ, coffee, brochures, glasses, robes, white tees…
“FLX” is a different beast. There’s no romance here. There’s only a desolate desert, a breathtakingly beautiful backdrop of the stars, and Rahul himself (still clad in the same white tank from “new balance”) leaned up against a half buried van for reasons unknown.
Ah, yes. The music itself. Yeah, the guy’s carved out a lane paved by the one and only Frank Ocean… but he’s also put his own little original spin on the pitched vocals, the “warm and chill” vibes, and the delivery that so many fans of Blonded fell in love with.
Pre-save WIDDIT here: https://symphony.to/rahul-1/widdit.
ROUNDHOUSE MUSIC 