Video: Nef The Pharaoh – “Poppin’ Again”

The 22-Year-Old Vallejo Emcee Lets Loose an ’80s R&B-Influenced Production in This XXL-Premiered Clip.

11.8.2017

Critical Praise:

20 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2016 – Neffy Got Wings (#3) – FACT

2016 was the West Coast’s time to shine, and few rappers shined as brightly as Nef – FACT

“Neffy Got Wings is the album of the week” – Stereogum

“…the best rapper from Vallejo since the last great rapper from Vallejo” – Jeff Weiss

“…as a rapper, [Nef the Pharaoh] lets the energy lead and the bars follow, boasting and flexing with the kinds of memorable banalities that make up some of hip-hop’s best yet least-celebrated moments.” –Pitchfork

“Nef The Pharaoh is the Bay Area’s next up.” – HotNewHipHop

“Nef the Pharaoh runs neck-and-neck with Kodak Black as the most promising up-and-coming rapper who can’t yet rent a car.” – SPIN

“There may be no rapper working right now who brings more good cheer and positive vibes than Vallejo’s Nef the Pharaoh” – Noisey

The Video:

Radiating off-kilter charisma and boundless energy, Nef The Pharaoh makes the Bay Area bounce. Traveling to the beach in his foreign with some KIL FMB and Sick Wid It Records brethren, Nef throws us for a loop on “Poppin’ Again,” his latest video. A quick dancefloor slapper heavily steeped in ’80s R&B and electro funk, “Poppin’ Again” finds Nef twisting multisyllabic rhymes against a rubbery bassline. With a cameo appearance from OMB Peezy, “Poppin’ Again” is outrageously fun, finding Nef dancing in his foreign car, shaking his dreads on a Bay Area beach. “This is just a young, rich, happy Chang Chang talking his shit,” Nef explains. Premiered by XXL, “Poppin’ Again” follows “Drop Addy,” a surreal video premiered last month by Mass Appeal, and the hit video for “Bling Blaow,” a highlight from The Chang Project, released this summer.

Combining an old-school, colorful rhyming style with pristine, state-of-the-art Bay Area production, Nef’s The Chang Project is a mature effort from the Sick Wid It signee, representative of his growth from teenaged phenom to a father and a leader. “Bling Blaow” is the third high quality visual from the project, following the Noisey-premiered, SXSW-set “Spice,” which featured SOB x RBE’s Yhung T.O., and the more recent release of “Move4,” featuring OMB Peezy and Jay Ant, filmed at skateparks near Venice Beach. Boasting appearances from Ty Dolla $ign, Larry June, Caleborate, SOB x RBE, OMB Peezy, Jay Ant, and others, The Chang Project is an appetizer for The Big Chang Theory, Nef’s upcoming debut album. This summer, Nef The Pharaoh opened for A$AP Ferg at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and will grace the stage this weekend at Rolling Loud Bay Area. “I feel like I’m being rewarded for doing something good.” said Nef in his recent GEN F feature for The FADER. “God got a plan for everyone, and this is his plan for me. It feels good. Dopamine!”

Watch “Poppin’ Again”: https://youtu.be/FbgzX6wiPX0

Check out the XXL Premiere: http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2017/11/nef-pharaoh-poppin-again/

Please contact Michelle or Isabel for more info.

The Background:

Praised by Jeff Weiss as “the best rapper from Vallejo since the last great rapper from Vallejo,” the legendMac Dre being his predecessor, 21 -year-old Nef The Pharaoh is one of the Bay Area’s most exciting young emcees. Signed to E-40‘s Sick Wid It Records, Nef The Pharaoh delivered his debut retail release, a self-titled EP, in November 2015 to high critical praise. Featuring the breakthrough radio hit “Big Tymin’,” which charted at #34 on San Francisco’s 106 KMEL‘s Top 106 Songs of 2015 and earned more than 7.7 million views on YouTube, the Nef The Pharaoh EP firmly established the rapper on the national scene. Nef followed his breakthrough project by joining producer Cardo for Neffy Got Wings, a collaborative EP which released in January, and by accompanying G-Eazy, A$AP Ferg, and Marc E. Bassy on the national When It’s Dark Out Tour. Nef’s next project, Fresh Outta Space 3, came out September 1st.