Summertime Chi is a wonderful thing – the weather is gorgeous, there are street festivals practically every weekend, rooftop parties highlight every evening, the homies are always around, and girls, girls, girls. Directed by Def Poet/Adebowale Adesuyi, RETROSPECT’s latest video from their amazing mixtape The Breakout: Part One is finally public after a private viewing party a couple of weeks ago. “Always” captures what makes Chicago summers so amazing, complete with all of the aforementioned shenanigans (shouts out to ShowYouSuck and Auggie the 9th) with some other summer staples, including Emporium, the beach, and a nighttime carnival.

Debo’s music videos always follow a light narrative to frame the music like a short film, and he’s honestly one of my favorite music video directors in Chicago right now. Besides the obvious stuff, like shooting the song’s theme via a “Day in the Life” of RETROSPECT’s circle, there’s a cool parallel between the video’s intro focused on Quotes (I’m digging the PI flag in the corner) to Def Poet’s mirrored ending. It’s always the little things that separate us.

Check out the video for “Always” below, download The Breakout: Part One if you haven’t already, and check out RETROSPECT’s brand new website.

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