Music Video of the Day: What If I Go? by Mura Masa (2016, dir. Yoni Lappin)

Mura Masa is only 20 years old. I’m 33, and I already feel ancient.

Anyways, Mura Masa is a guy named Alex Crossan who was born in Castel, Guernsey. While it doesn’t say anywhere on Wikipedia, I’m sure he got the name from the Japanese swordsmith Muramasa Sengo.

He makes Trap Music. That’s a new genre for me. Wikipedia defines it as follows:

“Trap music is defined by its ominous, bleak and gritty lyrical content which varies widely according to artist. Typical lyrical themes portrayed include observations of hardship in the “trap”, street life, poverty, violence and harsh experiences in urban inner city surroundings.”

That’s funny seeing as Guernsey is an island that is physically stuck in-between the UK and France. Wikipedia says that Alex played in Punk, Hardcore, Deathcore, and Gospel bands as a teenager before settling on Trap Music. I highly doubt that he picked out the genre because it fit perfectly with the location he was born. Still, it is something that makes for a fun bit of trivia.

The music video is a visual representation of that definition filmed with cellphones–making heavy use of Live Photos–since that would be what people would be carrying around with them that easily captures “street life, poverty, violence and harsh experiences in urban inner city surroundings.” They even went as far as rounding the edges since we like playing with borders in things like Instagram where shots like those you see in this music video frequently end up on.

Alex makes two cameo appearances in the music video. If you want to see them:

1. 1:16, https://youtu.be/pLuQ0MGLBXU?t=1m16s
2. 2:38 – 2:39, https://youtu.be/pLuQ0MGLBXU?t=2m38s

Don’t blink, or you’ll miss him. They really are that short.

Out of the six music videos I looked at from this year, I would say this is the best. I liked Brodka’s song Up In The Hill the most, but I like this music video better. I can’t think of anything it does wrong. You can even look at it as an instructional video on how and when to use this song. It’s low-key and good for when you need to wind down, like the guy riding the bus. If you need a little song for a love montage, then this video shows you it will work great for that. If you need a song to break up two high-energy songs that can give couples a nice intimate moment, then this music video also shows you that it will work for that.

I don’t know if this will be memorable down the line for people in general. This is the kind of song and music video that will firmly attach itself to moments in some people’s lives. Just like the video is largely comprised of moments captured with photographs and short bits of video.

Enjoy!

6 from 2016: