The first time VICE New Zealand spoke with Church & AP, they were interviewing international superstars BROCKHAMPTON in a dusty hall adjoining Avondale’s Hollywood Cinemas. The second, they were just days away from dropping their first official single, the now-internationally co-signed and locally inescapable smash ‘Ready or Not’. Today, a little less than five months on from that initial meeting, we’re impossibly happy to bring you the next phase in their increasingly plausible plot for world domination, the premiere of their brand new video for ‘Loud as Hell’.With ‘Ready or Not’ director Connor Pritchard once again handling business behind the camera, the video is a simple-but-striking piece, woozy and joyously colourful throughout. Swirling fluorescent-lit fisheye shots nod reverently to the iconic and era-defining ‘90s work of Hype Williams, though this is no fake-rich fantasy piece—the duo stay draped in hoodies and high-vis, and with Church delivering his bars from the inauspicious settings of a suburban garage, an industrial shop floor, and Scribe-style out the passenger window of what looks a lot like a 1994 Toyota Hilux, it’s a perfectly local, tongue-in-cheek-without-being-cornball accompaniment for the sharp, acerbic track.Production-wise, the genesis of ‘Loud As Hell’ took a conspicuously different route to most songs, rap or otherwise. Church initially recorded the track to a generic beat he’d found online – “It was a ‘type’ beat, aye?” AP laughs – then spent the better part of half a year working with producers from their inner circle to find a track to match his words. “Dera [Meelan] had a go, and it wasn’t the vibe. Spyde had a go, and it was a really bubbly beat, and it was dope, but completely opposite to my aggressive raps. Baccyard did two beats on it and we were like na, not the one. And then Shallows did two beats on it as well, and I was just like “No, please no.” But then he stripped it right back and sent it to me one day just like, “Yo, this popped into my head.” And then we had it.”Given that ‘Ready Or Not’ is still receiving major attention and airplay, including invaluable cosigns from BBC tastemakers Jamz Supernova and Annie Mac, the move to release a pair of Church & AP tracks that each showcase the pair’s talents individually (‘Loud As Hell’ is essentially a Church solo track, while follow up ‘Peños’ saw AP team up instead with Kome member Humbleboy) is for sure an ambitious one. Speaking to VICE NZ, though, Church said that’s long been part of their strategy. “When we were still drafting up ideas, Church and AP wasn’t, like, a thing that we thought was permanent. It was just shows, and we were still making music separately.” he told us. “And last year we became a duo, like a unit that moves together, but when we started this it was like, yeah we both still do individual music…there’s like, surface level fans who hear you in the car,” he elaborated, “but these other songs are for people that really wanna like, see what Church and AP is about, and know about our tastes individually.”With the two tracks collectively forming the first glimpses of an upcoming SR3MM-style split double EP, they’re not shying away from articulating their ambitions or the confidence underpinning them. In Church’s own words, “We both want to be equally as popular separately, then be like a mega thing together. Andre 3000 can jump on all these features, and Big Boi can have all these award-winning albums. Together they’re Outkast, but separately they’re still two incredible artists. Kinda that vibe.”
Advertisement