With Kanye West out to endear himself to the next generation of fans, it only makes sense that he’s attached himself to some of Soundcloud rap’s most vibrant personalities in the effort to maintain his relevance. Meanwhile, rising stars like Lil Pump and YNW Melly are happy to accept the Kanye co-sign, which brings more attention to their burgeoning brands. The latest intergenerational collaboration finds YNW Melly and Kanye crooning their way through a surreal simulation in the colorful, Cole Bennett-directed “Mixed Personalities” video from Melly’s debut album, We All Shine, which is out now. Check out the video below.
The video features all the hallmarks of both Cole Bennett and YNW Melly’s styles. It features vivid, surreal imagery — in this case, a grassy indoor field where Melly dances with robots, falls asleep on a school desk, and flirts with a computer-animated, green, three-headed lady — along with Melly’s signature, sophomoric humor, which finds a visual joke in the three-headed lady eating a plate of what looks like spaghetti off a sprawling Melly’s lap. Meanwhile, the song itself, produced by C-Clip Beatz, is audio Crayola, with a springy, cartoonish trap beat that Melly and Kanye croon and swoon over, trading heartfelt melodies that make up in quirky personality what they lack in technical accuracy.
YNW Melly has rapidly become one of the biggest names to bubble up from the South Florida Soundcloud rap scene. He’s got an effervescent charm that belies the violent gang-related content of songs, which he half sings, half raps over with a buoyant enthusiasm that makes him really hard to resist. With co-signs from other rising stars and cultural motivators like Tee Grizzley and Cole Bennett’s Lyrical Lemonade production house (also responsible for videos from JID, Blueface, and Lil Skies) and huge views on his breakout single “Murder On My Mind” (over 75 million and counting in five months, if you can believe it), he seems destined for stardom — and in relatively short order.
We All Shine is out now. Get it here.
