Guilty of looking for love in all the bong places, hip hop artist Netherfriends has released a video companion to his romantic manifesto, “Smoke A Little Tree.” Directed by Onion Creek Productions, it’s a 4th wall-breaking tour diary that highlights the conflict at the core of the song itself: Is there room for romance and reefer on the road?
Netherfriends posses a combination of confidence, talent and style that make him an easily likeable protagonist: cool grooves, cool suit. He’s got a solid mean-face and he succeeds in glamorizing the hustle of chasing the dream, of packed clubs and bumping crowds, of frilly shirts. “Tree” also benefits from an earworm melody made even more memorable by the track’s lyrical repetition.
The song’s spacey production and meandering horns are a nice juxtaposition to those raucous concert shots, and they highlight a loneliness that Netherfriends drapes in swagger. This is a song about longing for love, not being in it. Yeah, our hero looks like he’s enjoying his ice cream cone, but I’m sure he’d rather get baked and split a milkshake.
“Smoke A Little Tree” is the opening track on Ladyfriends, a “stoner love album” and multimedia project released this July. Netherfriends performs at the Ravenswood ArtWalk on Sunday, September 20th (11 AM-6 PM,$5, All Ages). Zigtebra, Axons, Bubbles Brown and more play. RSVP here.
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