In a young rapper’s catalog–particularly in an era when, in practice, quantity undeniably trumps quality for most–it’s rare to find a song that acts as an anchor. Something that seems more than a lucky hit–an early signature that mixes current ability with glimpses of potential still undelivered. The sort of record you look back on years later and say “that was the seed.”
Since first landing in Confusion’s inbox, Memphis rapper Jon Waltz’s “Bang” has remained a favorite: intensely personal, haunting but simple, and buoyed by an incredible, memorable chorus.
Fitting, then, that almost a year after we first heard “Bang,” Waltz’s early breakthrough gets a video–and a suitably cinematic one at that. Depicting a party interrupted by violence, director John Merizalde (also behind the video for Cozz’s “Dreams”) provides a short, loosely formed narrative that adds weight to the song.
It’s impossible to say where Jon Waltz’s career will be in five years, but “Bang” remains as compelling as it was when we initially heard it. Watch the video below or on Vimeo.
