Shabazz Palaces - Shine a Light ft. Thaddillac

What this video is

Released August 16, 2017, as the lead single video from Shabazz Palaces' 'Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star' — one half of a simultaneous dual-album release on Sub Pop alongside 'Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines.' The Quazarz project is a concept album framing America's social brutality through the perspective of an alien observer named Quazarz, functioning as an afrofuturist critique of systemic violence,…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of mid-2010s experimental hip-hop's expansion into cinematic short-form video. The clip embodies the convergence of afrofuturism, folk horror, and Pacific Northwest indie aesthetics, demonstrating how Sub Pop-era art-rap used the music video form to extend conceptual album…

The director

Seattle-born writer/director based in Los Angeles. Graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory Directing Fellowship. Holds a Master's in Theatre & Performance from Trinity College Dublin via a George J. Mitchell Scholarship. Transitioned from…