One of the standout tracks on Rick Ross’ Rather You Than Me LP from earlier this year gets the visual treatment with the ultra-luxurious, Ryan Snyder-directed video for “Santorini Greece,” filmed in — where else? — Santorini, Greece.
Ross’ album also spawned a video for “Idols Become Rivals,” the track that found the once rotund rapper attempting to redress a whole list of grievances with Cash Money boss Birdman, requesting, “Can all producers please get paid?” Ross has seemingly always been one to try to address his own missteps, so it makes sense he’d expect others to at least try to do the same.
“Santorini Greece,” in a similar vein, pairs Ross’ customary grandiose, opulent imagery with social commentary, including references to Mtulu Shakur (Tupac’s stepfather, who helped fugitive revolutionary Assata Shakur escape to Cuba in 1984), The Attica Correctional Facility (where prisoners staged a revolt in 1971 to attain better living conditions and redress civil rights violations by correctional officers), and the blatant double standards inherent to the justice system, which continues to disproportionately convict people of color.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Rick Ross video without splendorous tableaus, and “Santorini Greece” has them, courtesy of wide-angle shots of the sprawling coastline and of the towns of Fira and Oia clinging to cliffs above an underwater caldera, or volcanic crater. The domed roof of the local church makes an appearance, as does Ross’ trademark yacht shot, turning the video into a miniature tour of one of the most popular vacation destinations on Earth.
