Guest
Follow Rome: Directed by GOLDRUSH (@madebygoldrush) Premiere via NPR: DOWNLOAD: February 12, 2015 by KIANA FITZGERALD • Exactly one year after releasing the densely produced and stunningly astute Beautiful Pimp 2, Atlanta rapper Rome Fortune lets loose the visuals for his project's standalone track, “OneDay.“ The lyrics that run throughout the song read like your average rap manifesto: “It's me alone, standing here / Unfulfilled, I don't care ... One day, you gon' realize what I'm doing / One day, you gon' really feel my influence.“ Going off those bars, you could assume Fortune is playing the part of the nihilistic, narcissistic rapper. But now he's showing us that's not the case. Not by a long shot. The video opens with scenes of a Philadelphia neighborhood, which was home for Fortune's mother, and still is for his grandfather. We see him getting a haircut from his uncle at the top, and his grandfather, standing in front of his home, melts our hearts soon after. (The vibes you hear on the song are courtesy of the paterfamilias.) Later, Fortune's mom flashes across the screen as she crosses a stage he shares with his grandfather in front of an adoring audience. It's a full-blown family affair. So when we hear Fortune say “It's me alone“ the second time, and see him grab his grandfather's shoulder and grin, he's telling us if we were to track his route here we'd be following more than one set of footprints. And while lyrically Fortune affirms his independence, his accompaniment and video pay tribute to his family. This piece ends both musically and visually with Fortune's grandfather, who has his own story, one like his grandson's and entirely different.
