Video: Sir Michael Rocks – “Quality Time Lapse”

Filmed in Tokyo, the Internet Rap Architect Strides Through the Crowded Streets in Latest Video, Premiered by Complex

10.23.2015

Critical Praise for Sir Michael Rocks:

“Sir Michael Rocks is a pretty damn adventurous dude.” – Noisey

“Needless to say, dude’s a visionary.” – XXL

“Sir Michael Rocks is ready to take over.” – Complex

“Rocks is a solo artist looking to make good on a promise of stardom.” – The FADER

“He’s Mikey, he, he, he rocks. Yes he does.” – Pigeons and Planes

The Video:

Filmed during a month-long trip to Tokyo, Sir Michael Rocks is dipped in the Pokemon-inspired Gyrados hockey jersey of his own Exotic Gourmet clothing line as he skips through the congested streets that are splashed with trippy, colorful lighting as buildings coated with brand names tower around the former Cool Kids rapper. From his recently released Populair album, “Quality Time Lapse” debuted via Complex and is a brooding self-produced cut that finds Rocks reflecting on his past: “I swear to God I’m on the phone with the old me/ From ’06, the me that didn’t know shit,” he raps in the song’s first verse. He elaborates with bars about his art school experience selling drugs to cinema kids, buying bootleg diamonds and turning a profit selling them to kids who didn’t know better, before concluding that “the things we do just to fit in and keep up with n*ggas, I had to give that up/ Wanted to be my own man before the internet told me who I was.”

Sir Michael Rocks’ Populair is a project that features no guests, and self-production on “In My Mode” and “Quality Time Lapse.” While digging in the crates for samples has remained a common thread in hip-hop, Internet rap architect Sir Michael Rocks again proved himself to be an enigma living in his own virtual reality, trading the common soul or jazz breaks for video game loops. You’ll quickly recognize a popular Street Fighter soundbite that’s repeated throughout “Perfect” as Sir Michael Rocks is found matched against himself in the pixelated visual that debuted via The A.V. Club. Continuing this theme, an obscure Resident Evil clip lurks beneath Chicago footwork-inspired production on “Come Outside.” “The menacing music goes well with the video, which features sparklers being lit up in a dark area while Michael gets his juke on,” said Mass Appeal.

Watch “Quality Time Lapse”: https://youtu.be/n9BX8LbmcEU

Check out the Complex premiere: http://www.complex.com/music/2015/10/sir-michael-rocks-video-premiere-quality-time-lapse-video

Listen to Populair on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5rSjo8xzw2Xz7uE1BnxsY4

Listen to Populair on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/sirmichaelrocks/sets/populair/

Purchase Populair: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/populair/id1031192501?ls=1

Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with Sir Michael Rocks.

Sir Michael Rocks Background:

Sir Michael Rocks has always been a little ahead of his time, a little more original than his peers, a little bit more creative. As a teenager, he started making music under the name Mikey Rocks as one half of groundbreaking duo The Cool Kids. Formed over the Internet and powered by a strong grassroots fanbase online, the group helped redefine the image of rap for the Internet era with an effortlessly cool throwback style and an iconic, laid-back fashion sense. Rechristening himself as Sir Michael Rocks in 2011, the restlessly creative artist, now based in Miami after time spent in Chicago and LA, has been pushing the boundaries of rap originality even further in recent years with a string of popular, critically acclaimed mixtapes. He released debut solo album, Banco, in 2014 and released his Populair EP on September 11th, 2015.