A$AP Ferg – “Harlem Anthem” Video
Last week, A$AP Ferg came out with his new song “Harlem Anthem,” which is both a classic-rap old-head move and a corporate tie-in. The song features Ferg rapping, with evident pride, about his neighborhood, all over a tumbling rush of breakbeats. But it’s also a song recorded specifically for the soundtrack of Uncle Drew, the movie adaptation of a Pepsi commercial about old-man streetball legends. And the new “Harlem Anthem” video walks that same line between classic and corny.
The “Harlem Anthem” is beautifully shot, with Ferg rapping on a sunny rooftop and footage of people going about their business in the upper reaches of Manhattan. The clip succeeds in making Harlem look like the truly magical and historic place that it is. But it’s also full of footage from the movie, which does not look like a good movie.
So: Come for the images of what might be America’s greatest historically black neighborhood, and stay for the bits where Kyrie Irving and Shaquille O’Neal play ball with white wigs and fake beards on, I guess. The video is below.
Uncle Drew opens in theaters tomorrow. Better get your tickets now!