There’s something to be said for releases that strip away all the pretensions and frills, and just lay things out as they are. Brooklyn artist Nkosi Bourne‘s latest release- a music video for his standout track “Drowning”, fits this bill, with day-in-the-life themes captured in a series of focused shots that distill the track’s introspective lyricism and laid-back sonics. Bourne himself stands out particularly as a wordsmith, but he is able to bring all of the other elements together with “Drowning” for a release that mesmerizes in its simplicity. A cut from his well-received mixtape Glimpse, “Drowning”‘s video continues Bourne’s run of solid jazz-tinged, poetic joints, and the accompanying video makes for a cohesive, engaging pairing.
Shot by Cultivison, a production company run by Cult Classic, the video follows Nkosi through a depiction of a day in his life. Beginning with his home life, you get to see some of his routines but, more importantly, the things that can easily deprioritize his passion for making music and grinding. It’d be easy to call them distractions, but some are core factors of his life that keep him going no matter how hard things get, and others are really just the other factors of life that make Nkosi feel like he’s living life on a “handstand.” Once he steps outside, he’s really trying to decompress and get away from it all in the best way he can, music and nature.
“Drowning”‘s visual is Bourne’s latest offering, and it has him starting 2023 on a strong note. Give the video a watch below and connect with Nkosi Bourne on social media.