Here is the video for Andre Martel’s “Shaq-Fu”, which is half Andre rapping in front of a Lamborghini, and half vintage Formula 1 racing footage. This is, self-evidently, a flawless formula (1). The track is from his excellent His Majesty Obscured album.
Martel is a member of the Bay-based Nature crew. You may have heard him on fellow Nature boy Antwon’s “Work 4 Me” from the latter’s stellar 2013 album In Dark Denim (at the time Martel was still known as Himself the Majestic). Like Antwon, Martel finds a sweet spot between low-fidelity DIY sensibilities and low-bitrate cloud rap. A showcase of bars like “Shaq-Fu” evokes the cassette-based Bay underground of the 90s: Sacred Hoop 2015.
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“Shaq-Fu” is a terrible video game, but the 80s racing footage reminded me that my college radio station had a fully functional “Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s Super Off Road” arcade console. Nobody ever played it after their second visit to the station, but it was steezy as fuck: Nothing says 1987 quite like 8-bit fake titties. Andre Martel is a former video game tester, and he is also that steezy. Watch “Shaq-Fu,” directed by Martel and the song’s producer, Froskees, below:
Skinny Friedman would be racing in a Lambo, but we’re not sure if he knows how to drive. Follow him on Twitter.
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