If you haven’t heard last summer’s project Chasing Summer by TDE’s rising artist SiR by now, this is the perfect opportunity to check it out. He was able to recruit some massive features for the album including Lil Wayne, Smino, and his label mate Kendrick Lamar, who all brought a different aesthetic and vibe to the record. While he dives into various opinions and experiences related to love, he focuses heavily on the relatable downsides that catching feelings can often result in.
On the album’s second song “John Redcorn”, SiR puts himself in the shoes of the King of the Hill character who gets his heart broken in the show. While I’m not very familiar with the cartoon or the plot that this character follows, I learned this after doing some research and the themes SiR touches on seem very similar to that of John. Consistent rattling percussion, touching guitar strums, and toned-down drums offer a calm yet melancholic basis for SiR to get emotional and vulnerable. His voice sounds beyond sad and almost desperate for companionship as he asks why he’s alone, knowing that the person in his mind wants to be with him as well. As he sings, you can feel the emotion behind his words as some of them quiver a bit while he holds his notes out, stressing his sadness. Other moments display layered vocals, one layer being his normal pitch, and another being pitched up, adding some disparity and passion to his message. He goes into intense detail about his feelings throughout this offering, mentioning how he hates that he cares so much, wanting to be the one that his love interest chooses in the end, and how he’s losing sleep thinking so vividly about this girl.
In the animated music video that breathes fresh air into this offering, the cartoonish style mimics the aesthetic of the classic late-night television show. Opening up in a setting showing Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Schoolboy Q, or Black Hippy as they’re collectively known as, the group is hanging out, drinking and smoking on the side of the road as SiR’s character drives past them. The location then changes to his trailer, where he’s lying in bed alone as he receives calls from this woman before reluctantly declining them. He then rolls a joint, plays around with some music, and reads a book, clearly having trouble keeping his mind off of this woman. Finally, he gives in and picks up the phone which ultimately leads him to pay a visit to this girl, where he is caught by Ab-Soul’s character giving her a massage. After moving on from this, he starts seeing her face everywhere no matter what activity he’s partaking in. He even ends up crashing his vehicle because the sleepless daze he was in while driving had him hallucinating, seeing her in the middle of the road, causing him to swerve and wreck his car. Finally, he makes a grand romantic gesture by sneaking into her house late at night, which ultimately leads to him getting knocked out by Soulo’s character.
I love music videos like this because they actually tell a story and don’t just add visuals to a song like some artists do because they know they can. It is like a miniature episode of King of the Hill, and the unspoken storyline that compliments the actual lyrics being sung is very enthralling. The song itself is already a hopelessly romantic ballad that’s as smooth and meaningful as can be, so I’m definitely not surprised that the video was a success considering it was already set up with such a solid foundation created by the music. Although I’m not overly familiar with the classic cartoon as I’ve mentioned before, it seems like the plot created in this music video was similar to that of the storyline I read about within the show. So, whether you’re a fan of King of the Hill or not, check out the incredible new visual for SiR’s wonderful song “John Redcorn”.