Rappers are blues people too. Watch Deniro Farrar's moving new video for "Nostalgia" and you'll be reminded of that fact. The clip, shot by Dorsey Wesley Jr. and edited by Rico James, was filmed at a family gathering in the rapper's native Charlotte, NC.
The video is a highlight reel of Farrar spending quality time with his two young children, his mother, brother, uncles and niece—but the song itself makes for a bittersweet soundtrack. On "Nostalgia," which samples singer Yuna's melancholy "Someone Out Of Town," Farrar reminisces about both the good and the bad times of his upbringing. He addresses family members by name, not just to air out dirty laundry, but to make amends with them and strengthen the strained bonds.
He's brave and confessional, expressing his appreciation for his loved ones despite their flaws: "Mama beat us all the time, she ain't have no patience/ Somethin' to think about before you hit yo' babies/ And she prayed for better days and it drove her crazy/ and I gotta give it to her, tried her best to raise me." Farrar is raw, honest and emotive—ain't that what the Blues is all about?
Deniro Farrar's Guilty Until Proven Innocent EP is scheduled to be released on Warner Bros. this winter.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.