Last week, New York rapper Bishop Nehru made the exciting announcement that he has a new album called Elevators on the way, produced entirely by Kaytranada and MF DOOM. The independent release will arrive on March 16 as a two-part concept (Act I: Ascension and Act II: Free Falling).
Today, we get a glimpse at what Elevators has in store with the video for Bishop's new single "Rooftops." Over jazzy production from DOOM, Bishop spits for nearly two straight minutes without pausing, dropping subtle gems like, "I'm infinite like I'm unsigned Eminem." The excellent red and blue-hued accompanying visual—which was directed by Mezzy and written by Bishop—takes the song's title quite literally, placing Bishop in the center of a twinkling city skyline, accentuating the song's streetwise energy.
'"Rooftops" symbolizes the fall of the Titans and how they must rise back into their own powers, Bishop told Complex via email. "They must realize that the 'gods' have used their own power against them to reclaim their spot. Like the Titans, we must mentally and more importantly spiritually reclaim our power."
"Rooftops" and the entire Elevators project builds on the collaborative relationship that Bishop and DOOM built while working on their 2014 album, NehruvianDOOM. Bishop also reveals that the album is inspired in part by the Beach Boys' classic 1966 album Pet Sounds.
"With this project I was largely influenced by music theory and Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. This is my attempt at a 'rap' Pet Sounds," he explained. "This project is a collection of my feelings straight from my heart, all of my ideas were created specifically off of instinct and intuitive occurrences. This album is my answer to the question, 'What would you say your music sound like?' My answer to that would be 'Grammy Rap.' There's 'Mumble Rap' and then there's 'Grammy Rap.'"
Last week, he shared a claymation trailer for Elevators, created by Raphael Truffi Bortholuzzi of Grandmondo Miniatures. You can watch that below.
Elevators is available for pre-order on iTunes. "Rooftops" is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music.
