This isn’t the first time we’ve featured Zane Smith on this site, but for the sake of emphasis, let me a little bit more forceful in my opinion: Mr. Smith deserves your attention. The rapper and producer out of Lithonia, GA is the epitome of a scrappy DIY artist, handling every aspect of the creative and promotional process. Beyond writing and recording his own music and handling press, he even concepts, films, and edits each of his videos, as is the case with his latest effort, “Simple Life.”
Taken off his fifth album, Life Sucks, the track traces Smith’s memories of youth when the weight of the world was much lighter. Over echoing piano chords and a no-frills beat, he reminisces on his childhood, but what starts as a bittersweet back-in-the-day jam eventually turns darker as Smith finds himself examining his place in the world and the circumstances surrounding his present state of being. “What’s the point of living? / What’s the point of kids when they gotta go through everything I did just to be a better me?” he ponders, questioning the value of innocence in a life that leads to pain and hardship.
Visually, the lack of color in the video puts less focus on an idyllic past and more on the grim struggles of Smith’s adulthood. For the most part, the footage is centered around the rapper sitting alone on his bed, and the additional details shown—an empty slide and swings, weathered family photos, a lone street sign reading ‘Dead End’—seem to emphasize a feeling of distance and decay. The final product is more sobering than sad, a stark reminder that life oftentimes takes a turn for the worse, and childhood generally sucks at preparing us for the arduous journey to come.
Watch/listen above.
More Info
Web: zanesmithmusic.com
Instagram: @zanesmithmusic
SoundCloud: @zanesmithmusic
Twitter: @ZaneSmithMusic
YouTube: @zanesmithmusic