Photo by William Olguin
It’s been a long eight months since Isaiah Toothaker and Jacob Safari’s ?OTHING came out. At the time of its release, I singled out “La Mer” as the highlight of the Nine Inch Nails-sampled project thanks to Safari’s production and Toothtaker’s introspective lyrics. Not long after ?OTHING was released, I talked to Toothtaker about the project where he revealed that a few videos were planned to support the EP. Thanks to SPIN, the first of the ?OTHING videos was released earlier today, fittingly for the aforementioned standout, “La Mer.”
The video runs counter to some of Isaiah’s past videos, opting for more of a simple, minimalistic style than what we’ve come to expect from the rapper (especially in comparison to the amazing “Frownin'” video with Gunplay). However, while some might miss the stylistic flourishes from Isaiah’s video backlog, the “La Mer” video more than makes up for with Isaiah’s singular style, complete with the rap squat and a fat 30 pound gold chain; the gold motif also extends past the ever-present chain, but also in Isaiah’s jewelry and curtain backdrop. No bells, no tricks, no whistles – the focus is on the music, and damn if this isn’t one of my favorite Isaiah Toothtaker songs.
You can check out the video for “La Mer” below.
[vimeo id=”97079676″]