In case the recent torrential downpours were not a sufficient cleansing for the Motor City, Detroit hip-hop duo Passalacqua have sent forth their own ritual purification — except this one is more visual than it is diluvial.
Ahead of the August 19 release of their second full-length album CHURCH, Blaksmith (Brent Smith) and Mister (Bryan Lackner) joined forces with The Right Brothers to create a six-minute narrative short film entitled The Baptism. In addition, the clip features the talents of another set of siblings, Flint Eastwood’s Jax Anderson and her brother Seth, who go by the highly appropriate alias of SYBLYNG.
The Baptism takes both its name and soundtrack from “Baptism,” the opening cut off CHURCH, which has Passalacqua rapping against, rather than over, a backdrop of skeletal beats, aural shrapnel, and a children’s choir. This approach to the production — courtesy of SYBLYNG — is a sonic battlefield that finds accompaniment in the scenes that The Right Brothers place their performers. The contrasts between the holy and the lowly take shape both in the booming chorus (“Can you feel my body shaking?”) and the slices of life depicted in the film. It makes for a moving vision of the spirit of Detroit, set to a new anthem.
Watch “The Baptism” below: