Shabazz Palaces - #CAKE

What this video is

Released August 22, 2014, '#CAKE' is a visual companion to Shabazz Palaces' critically acclaimed album Lese Majesty, described by Sub Pop as 'a seven-suite, eighteen-track sonic mythmap of new black wave and ghetto psychedelics.' The video emerged during a fertile period for experimental Black music-making in Seattle, rooted in the Black Constellation collective. Lese Majesty earned placement on numerous 'Best of…

Why it matters

A key artifact of 2010s experimental/abstract hip-hop visual language, '#CAKE' demonstrates how Afrofuturist rap acts used low-budget but conceptually sophisticated music video production to construct non-narrative, immersive cinematic worlds. Murai's direction prefigures his later landmark work…

The director

Hiro Murai (born July 15, 1983, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He rose to prominence directing music videos for artists including Childish Gambino, Earl Sweatshirt, and Chet Faker before transitioning to prestige television. He…