Shawny Binladen in "Hercules/Paradise."
Directed by DotComNirvan.
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Somehow I feel like we still haven’t reached peak sample drill. Shawny Binladen and the Yellow Tape Boys have been getting their producers to flip sun-baked oldies and just about everything else you can think of for a while now, but last year the wave hit a new level when Shawny and guys from the Bronx like B-Lovee and Kay Flock started sampling massive 2000s radio hits for their chaotic records. Even though my brain has been melted by their sample choices, it's still occasionally fun guessing where they’ll go next.
“Hercules / Paradise,” a two-part video directed by DotComNirvan combines tracks from his latest mixtape Wick City and a deluxe version of his holiday project Merry Wickmas 2 that dropped in February for some reason, shows two different sides of the Queens rapper. On "Hercules,” there’s Shawny the Lover, elegantly floating over a chorus of strings and gentle keys with a lightly melodic flow. And on the LL Cool J-sampling “Paradise,” he doubles back to the aggressive punch-in style that’s made him one of the most exciting rappers coming out of New York.
