The first single from the return of Bashy arrives with an outstanding video directed by George Power, combining a range of techniques, including a palette of animation styles, to illustrate the rapper's reflections on growing up in North West London.Power's video for Sweet Boys Turn Sour combines live action - both Bashy (aka Ashley Thomas) performing, and also the dramatisation of his younger 'sweet boy' self - with 2D, scribble animation and claymation - to add a visual flourish to the grime star's autobiographical story, without distracting from the message.Since his debut album came out fifteen years ago, Ashley Thomas has gone to acting fame (including Top Boy, THEM and Great Expectations). This video for the first single from his second album, Being Poor Is Expensive, was shot around Combe House on the Brunel Estate, where he lived during his formative years. The various styles of animation employed by George Power are all deceptively innnocent and fun, before revealing their darker purpose: the main two dimensional cartoon character becomes a demon who personifies the bad stuff in the local area; claymation blobs morph into guns and knives. Power also adds montages of photos of the real Thomas as a child, and his transformation into a tough 'sour' youth in his teens.A powerful complement to Sweet Boys Turn Sour, also helping to focus upon the questions around the relative influence of surroundings and upbringing that are raised by the artist in the song.
David Knight - 1 day ago