Fatboi Sharif is tired of rappers standing around in their music videos. He’s a movie buff and sees the music video as another avenue by which an artist can further tell a song’s story, and does exactly that with his art. In anticipation of his new Roper Williams produced album Gandhi Loves Children Fatboi has been dropping a steady stream of singles with horror movie inspired music videos to match the macabre themes of the album. “Church Towers” set the tone with Fatboi flipping the violence back on himself, and his new single “Smithsonian” keeps that energy high with a late night haunt through the woods.
The video opens with Fatboi in killer clown make up handcuffed to a recently stabbed woman he seems ready to buried with. He then flips to scouring the woods in a hazmat suit with a ski-masked compatriot, someone in a lowered monk robe, and a last associate in a ghoulish Ronald Regan mask. Wherever they are headed, nothing good is going to happen. The absurdity of the whole situation pairs perfectly with Fatboi’s menacing bars and Roper’s otherworldly beat. The beat sounds like a pitched down loop of a chorus of nuns screaming out in prayer for the reprise of these helpless souls, as enchanting as it is entrancing. Fatboi is also one of the most compelling rappers to watch perform on camera. He is a natural born actor with extremely expressive eyes that can go from fearful and concerned to maniacal and murderous in one camera flip.
Fatboi Sharif told GSC that this is far from the last music video from Gandhi Loves Children and that damn near half the album has a short film to accompany it. Each of these videos has both showed another side of the song while also showing how deep and layered Fatboi’s artistry is. By the time they all drop the man will have damn near a full movie and an album under his belt. We cannot wait to see the further depths of hell that Fatboi brings us to on his next videos, and most importantly cannot wait for Gandhi Loves Children to drop on Friday.
Go cop the single on Bandcamp and follow Fatboi Sharif on twitter and insta. And be on the lookout for Gandhi Loves Children out Friday!
