Swizz Beatz and Nas have unleashed one of the year’s most visually arresting music videos for their Poison collaboration, “Echo.”
The video opens with Swizz standing solo delivering the song’s opening monologue in a blacked out room surrounded by beams of light. As he builds to the crescendo of his speech, the patterns of light change and organize themselves, as if he’s rearranging the whole world around him. Then Nas strolls into view in a dazzling all-white ensemble in the most brightly lit room of all time to deliver his nostalgic verses. The pair are seen throughout the video in various tableaus using light as the theme — it’s a little like something out of an art museum, with Swizz and Nas making themselves part of the exhibit.
Swizz made a big comeback this year with Poison, his first solo album in over ten years. Its stripped-down productions mark a departure from his trademark style of production, while its guests range from OGs like Nas and The Lox to more contemporary stars like Kendrick Lamar and Young Thug. Meanwhile, Nas had a Renaissance of his own with the release of his collaborative album with Kanye West, Nasir. That album also spawned a short film of the same name.
Poison is out now via Epic Records
