Studio Barnhus is the Stockholm-based label that has become a reliable home for some of the best dance music coming out of Sweden in recent years. The label's first compilation album, Studio Barnhus Volym 1, is testament to that with contributions from DJ Koze, Baba Stiltz, and Kornél Kovács among others. The album also introduces Qaadir Howard to the mix. The Atlanta artist contributes "Bloodied and a Mess," a bass-heavy melodic rap track that sees the former YouTube star explaining, among other things, how to "catch a legendary crook."
The song's new video, premiering above via The FADER, is a low-key affair in which Howard wanders around a park; sashaying between the greenery and letting his charisma do the work.
Speaking to The FADER via email, Howard said: "'Bloodied and a Mess' has many meanings, but this is a song indicative of where I was in life when I wrote it 8 years ago. At that point in my life and career, the general feeling for me was that all my peers were getting ahead and the human side of me, for just a moment, coveted what those around me had."
"The two verses set a different tone. Almost like a set of twins having gone through the same thing and pulled two different lessons from it; to survive you need to learn both. A. Everyone is fucked up, focus on you. And B. While you’re focusing on you be aware of your surroundings in order to not get fucked over in your trek to greatness. My objective was to take the frustration of that moment and make use of it, I gave myself a therapy session in the written and sonic form, the best kind."
Check out the video above.
Studio Barnhus Volym 1. is out now