Rap group Langston Hughes III dropped a music video for their latest single, “What I Do,” last night.
Throughout the Daniel Green-directed production, the guys in Langston (Maximillion, Choc da Bully, Chawle Dawk da Superstar, and Da Moja DJ Cory B) pull off a “dream heist.” The band of four breaks into a house to steal their “goals” back from embodiments of the past, unsupportive individuals, and eventually their own conscience.
“This art piece represents our mindset and mission,” says Chawle Dawk. “We are taking our dreams and aspirations back by force.”
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The video is a metaphor for Langston’s story, so far.
Starting in the early ‘90s as Da Phlayva, Maximillion and Chawle Dawk released a nationally recognized rap album called Phlayva 4 Dem All. After an extensive tour and almost landing a major record deal in California, Da Phlayva returned to Charleston with a plan for a second album that was left unfinished.
20 years, and several successful ventures around town, later, and Langston Hughes III was born to give the dream another shot.
In typical fashion, the group promotes their special brand of hip-hop that they call Adult Contemporary Head Nod on “What I Do.” Also, in typical fashion, they’ve got bars for days.
“Superhuman being/ soul and mind freeing/ third eye open is the vision that we’re seeing/ rock of Gibraltar/ rocksteady, never fleeing,” Maximillion raps at the top of his verse.
“What I Do” is a prime example of the effortless old-school cool Langston specializes in. And with prospects of a proper debut LP looming over the last year, new music is a good sign.
The single first appeared on the A3C Hip-Hop Festival’s eighth compilation.
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