If you didn’t catch the video for A$AP Rocky‘s L$D when it dropped all the way back in May, you missed a haunting, immersive love story set on a background of New York City night life and hallucinatory visuals. It’s a stylistic choice he’s carrying over into his latest music video accompanying Jukebox Joints ft. Kanye West.
It’s one of the more soulful cuts off of his At.Long.Last.A$AP album, an absolute smash earlier this year that’s still on high rotation everywhere. It starts out innocuously enough, with Rocky and co gathered around a 50s-style jukebox, the scenery quickly begins to melt into a rainbow-tinged world of psychedelia, bending and warping with every bar. It’s another look at night time in New York City through a strange and gorgeous lens, taking me back to lonely midnight subways underneath bustling city streets.
I’m a little disappointed that he chose to axe GOAT Kanye West and his verse entirely, particularly considering the lyrical genius found in just a few short lines. And in general, everything could use a little more Kanye in it. Still, it is a wonderful song without him, and a music video that will stimulate your eyeballs to no end.