Video: Lightshow – “Burberry Umbrellas”

The DC Hometown Hero Deftly Navigates a Tricky Romantic Scenario in This Mass Appeal-Premiered Visual

11.3.2017

Critical Praise for Lightshow:

“Lightshow’s voice packs a palpable controlled chaos that makes everything he says sound urgent” – Complex

“Lightshow is regarded as a hometown hero in Washington DC. Following the Southeast DC rapper on social media, you can see that when he makes an appearance at a local high school or performs at DMV area venues, crowds of young people go crazy, jumping around and screaming his lyrics.” – Noisey

The Video:

With his energetic flow and his incisive lyrics, Lightshow is one of the most promising young rappers in the nation’s capitol. Deflecting barbs from haters and fakes, Lightshow flashes his fiery flow on “Burberry Umbrellas.” Bouncing a triplet flow over a dramatic trap instrumental, using his evocative language to “paint a picture with letters”: “I’m fucking prophetic, it must be genetics, it must be the broccoli, it must be the lettuce/That 8 and that 6 done got so fucking popping that I’ont gotta spell out the rest of the letters/I know n*ggas jealous.” In the video, premiered by Mass Appeal, Lightshow deals with a fake friend who hits on his girl, turning the tables on him in humorous fashion. “Burberry Umbrellas” is the lead single from Kalorama Heights, Lightshow’s new album, named after the posh DC neighborhood currently home to the Obamas. An aspirational anthem that grapples with his city’s stratification between sections and its growing gentrification, Kalorama Heights dropped in early November.

Born and raised in Washington DC, more specifically 10th Place Southeast in Congress Heights, Lightshow started rapping at 11-years-old, recording his rhymes over the instrumental outros of his favorite hip-hop tracks. As a teenager, Lightshow made his bones as a recording engineer, assisting in recording sessions for DC rappers such as Shy Glizzy and Wale. It was Wale who gave Lightshow his first break, recruiting him to appear on “Georgetown Press,” a track from Wale’s 2012 mixtape Folarin. After his Wale feature, Lightshow started to gain traction as a rapper outside of the DMV, recording several mixtapes including The Way I See It, hosted by DJ Khaled. Last year, Lightshow released Life Sentence 3, which featured an appearance from A$AP Ant and boasted “Need A Lighter,” Lightshow’s collaboration with 21 Savage, which earned over 7 million streams on Spotify. LightShow looks to continue his upward trajectory with Kalorama Heights, which boasts highlights like the FADER-premiered “Shoot For The Stars” and the YFN Lucci-featuring “No Info.” “I don’t gotta go to Beverly Hills, I can be right in my city,” said Lightshow in a recent interview with The Washington Post. “If it’s good enough for Obama, it’s good enough for me.”