This. Is. Nuts.
18 UpperCut have created an incredible new music video with producer Howie Lee featuring everything from a giant jiangshi (zombie) and lightsabers to cyberpunk backdrops and complaints about the state of Chinese hip hop. There’s so much going on you barely even have time to notice the cameo from singer Akin.
Don’t really want to tell you much more about it than that. You should just watch it:
Not familiar with Howie Lee? Here’s how we opened a previous RADII profile of him: “Howie Lee, a Beijing-raised, UK-educated audiovisual producer and co-founder of the Do Hits label, is hailed as one of the most important names in Chinese electronic music today. He is known for lushly layered, ever-evolving soundscapes that deftly fuse Chinese instrumentals, global folk, and modern genres ranging from drum and bass to trap. A DJ for the dance parties of a dystopian, ethnically-melded future.”
An earlier version of “Double Kings” appeared on Lee’s 2019 record Tiān Dì Bù Rén, a concept album that Josh Feola delved into here, calling it Lee’s “most ambitious and musically interesting work yet.” And if you’re up on Howie Lee’s back catalogue, you’ll know that’s quite some statement.
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Meanwhile, 18 Uppercut continue to dazzle with their music video output. Their pop culture-mining video for “Dukkha” is a RADII favorite, while their interactive Bohan Phoenix video for “Overseas” was… well, fire. And then there was their last collaboration with Akin, a twisted, bloody number that you can watch right here.
