Photo via the artist
Edmonton-based artist HundredMillionThousand created a highly polished work of art for a music video. Co-director by Steve van Diest, the video for "Exalted" features emcee Kurai and was filmed in Drumheller, Saskatchewan. Emcee Kurai spits introspective and avant-garde lyrics, as he battles demons in a desert landscape. The track is the first single from HundredMillionThousand's debut album, LP1. The producer plans to drop the record in February 2017 on Spotify, Apple Music, and vinyl. You can pre-order it here. The two-part track also explores several facets of mental illness and loneliness. As Kurai raps, "I soliloquy when I am by the self."
"The first half of the video is about the cyclic nature of mental illness and the temptation of suicide," says HundredMillionThousand. "There is no beat and no pacing; just random stabs of chaotic drum fills in between short temporary peaceful phrases. The second half is about anxiety attacks: being stuck in a moment but having no control over it. Like being in the driver's seat of a car you can't control as it speeds down a straight, endless tunnel."Devin Pacholik is a Saskatchewan-based writer. Follow him on Twitter.
Advertisement