In a musical epoch where truth and grassroots artistry are rarely prioritized, those artists that do so represent the near future where, just as always happens in a cyclical system like music, a tearing away from the present and its existing ideals of high-energy, flamboyance, and crudeness, will come to lead the next wave. In hip-hop and its surrounding grey areas in particular, the antithesis to the explosion of a melody-focused Soundcloud era is most deeply rooted in London where a circle of artists are making some of the most profound, truthful, and downright creatively innovative art in recent memory. 

 

Spurred by a desire to create within the bounds of honesty, artistry, and uniqueness, this London crew, firmly populated by artists like Mahalia, Jay Prince, and Kojey Radical, are working together to change it all. Though seemingly always creating and releasing new music and art, the most recent deliverable comes by the hands of the latter two.

 

Love Is, a track first released as part of an A-Side / B-Side collaborative effort between Prince and Radical, and re-released as a part of Prince’s May album, CHERISH, finds its third installment in visual form. True to form – true to truth – the video for Love Is, is an unglamorous, simple, artistically reminiscent project fitting in every way of the pair and their music. 

 

Shot on film without the intricate over-the-topness that tends to come with modern hip-hop videos, Love Is is still able to add something to the summery, anthemic vibes that the track has provided from its first appearance. It grants a new identity to the feelings and emotions that an explosive, addicting hip-hop Summer anthem should come with. Instead of rowdy nights out, mellow days in; Instead of getting blitzed with the crew, relaxing with a few friends; Instead of sex, love; Instead of mindless hype, mindful consciousness.

 

The video is a microcosm of both artists’ greater plans for music and its effect on the world, and we’re all for it.