Video: Main Attrakionz – “Cycles”
The Oakland Rappers Choose Introspective Route for Celebratory Visuals from 808s & Dark Grapes III, Premiered by Noisey
07.27.15
The Video:
Oakland hip hop duo Main Attrakionz release the visuals to Friendzone-produced single, “Cycles,” from their recently released album, 808s & Dark Grapes III. The video, directed by Paper Son Films, follows the two cloud rap pioneers through several scenes of performances while a dimmed slide show with photos from their career plays in the background. Serving as the mementos for their journey, the slideshow accentuates the song’s celebratory message as well as the duo’s gratitude for how far they’ve come. “On ‘Cycles’ Main Attrakionz give us a familiar vein of insight into their lives,” Noisey wrote in their premiere post. “Their Green Ova crew has remained a stable touchpoint for artists of the underground who have the sensibilities of a life lived outside the norm and the insight of someone living with an almost transcendent intention.” The video, which illustrates their successes despite prior shortcomings, exhibits how “good it is to be a main attrakionz nigga.”
The “Cycles” video is preceded by their Kreayshawn-directed visual for “Dip,” which premiered via Pitchfork. Filmed in Oakland, the visual features local turf dancers Spiderman Dancer and Chonkie. “‘Dip’ is their closest thing to a club song, channeling a haunted-castle version of ‘Tipsy’ for 2015,” Pitchfork raved. They’re spot on, as the duo of MondreM.A.N. and Squadda B are found outside an abandoned house, neon lights protruding through the windows. Main Attrakionz’ 808s & Dark Grapes III released late last month via Stereogum, and has been recognized for its innovative sound. “808s III doesn’t sound particularly ‘cloudy’ at all,” explained Pitchfork in their review of the project. “The album is bombastic and baroque, certainly not lo-fi; if anything, it evokes sunlight streaming through parting clouds, a sudden moment of clarity.” “If you listen to 808s III you’re definitely listening to Main Attrakionz, but if you compare these songs to our other songs, you’ll see the difference,” Squadda B told HotNewHipHop in an interview, while MondreM.A.N. added that “we kinda took it a little more serious as a group when we were recording it, trying new styles, trying new song structures, new shit. This is just the result of that, we’re just gonna keep on running with this new shit.”
Watch “Cycles”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MfD5QRAZ9U
Check out the Noisey premiere: http://noisey.vice.com/blog/main-attrakionz-cycles-video
Listen to 808’s & Dark Grapes III: https://soundcloud.com/808sanddarkgrapes3/sets/808s-and-dark-grapes-iii
Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with Main Attrakionz.
Main Attrakionz Background:
Hailing from North Oakland, California, Squadda B and MondreM.A.N. of Main Attrakionz have been rapping together for most of their young lives. Early on, a shared love of rap music led them to put school on the back-burner and focus on producing music with a talented crew of local artists. Over the ensuing 7+ years, (and with an added assist from the world wide web and social media) Main Attrakionz have cultivated a unique and passionate sound, combining opaque atmospherics and lived-in reality rhymes, that stands as one of the most interesting and refreshing in the crowded and fractured world of today’s rap underground.
A relentless stream of solo and collaborative releases in 2011, including I Smoke Because I Don’t Care About Death, The Shady Bambino Project, Dope Since ’91, and their most definitive statement to-date, 808s and Dark Grapes II, have turned heads not only among those with an Internet connection and an interest in rap music, but have landed them acclaim from publications such as Pitchfork, The New York Times, Complex Magazine, The Fader, SPIN, and Fact Magazine.
Links:
“Cycles”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MfD5QRAZ9U
“Dip”: https://soundcloud.com/808sanddarkgrapes3/dip // https://youtu.be/vcdfaMKQNhQ
808’s & Dark Grapes III: https://soundcloud.com/808sanddarkgrapes3/sets/808s-and-dark-grapes-iii
“Shoot the Dice”: https://youtu.be/gvttucJMzfA
“Ain’t No Other Way”: https://youtu.be/1xo3jrjK7U4