It’s always a great day whenever Valee hops on a track.
The Chicago emcee has been collaborating with classical composer-turned-producer MVW over the past year on two albums: 2021’s CLASSIC$ and his latest, Connections. Both these LPs feature hard-hitting trap melodies that are grounded in precise composition, with the detail-oriented approach not lost on the MVW-produced songs that Valee spits on throughout Connections.
Throughout the duo’s number of collaborative tracks, we’ve yet to get a music video that visually captures the colorful bag that these two find themselves in time and time again. “Bali” finds both enigmas strutting down the beach in Gucci socks and passing woods as bystanders gawk at their impromptu video shoot — clearly naive to the creativity that seeps from Valee’s flows and MVW’s sharp production.
Shot by Joey Simpson, the video’s laid back vibe lends itself perfectly towards the song – almost suggesting that these intricate flows come as natural to Valee as breathing. This is to be expected if you’re a Valee veteran like myself, but if you’re new to him, this is the perfect place to start.
Valee and MVW are the rapper-producer duo to beat right now, with an array of songs like “Oscar” and “Still Do” just being a sample of their cumulative work up to this point. The closer you listen, the more you pick up on MVW’s illustrious compositional past, which is a huge part of what makes an artist as illustrative as Valee the perfect companion piece for the production on display.
“Bali” is really just a sample platter for the rest of Connections, which features similarly polarizing production acting as the bedrock for a multitude of varied features, from Zelooperz and Matt Ox to Desiigner and Xavier Wulf.
Also, make sure you check out Fake Shore Drive Radio on AMP Radio, where Andrew Barber interviews hip-hop legends and up-and-comers, from Boldy James to Mavi.
Listen to Connections Below!
