PREMIERE: Cork's Salamay strives to build trust in video for 'Rochelle (I Know You Don't Like Rappers)'

Cork city conceptual artist Salamay is back with a video for his 2021 track 'Rochelle (I Know You Don't Like Rappers)', with Oluwatobi taking the helm as director.

With inspiration ranging from JAY-Z and Micheal Jackson to Fela Kuti and countless others, Salamay experiments with a range of sounds, creating thrilling live performances for the stage. He was recently chosen as part of the Ireland Music Week line-up.

Consistently working to develop his craft further, Salamay presents thought-provoking lyrics combined with poetry harbouring intrinsic meanings. His 2021 E.P. saw the rapper team up predominantly with Dami Mila, with captivating results.

Now he's back with his first project of 2022; a vibrant visual clip starring himself, Ganiru and Samuel Ajala.

Directed by Oluwatobi (aka Kenny), the Irish Director of Photography found the medium of film in the early stage of his career. It was a simple way for him to express his emotions without having to talk about them - making use of aspects such as lighting, colour grade, cut and camera movement.

The highly skilled director and cinematographer pulls inspiration from directors and cinematographers such as David Fincher, Ria Yang and Roger Deakins.

Taking on 'Rochelle' as a project, the video opens with the sound of a phone ringing. Salamay's partner is reflecting on their time together, rifling through past images from a time where they felt true happiness. Moving to a shot of the pair cuddling in front of a sunset, clips of the relationship hitting struggles are interspersed for contrast.

'Rochelle' and Salamay both wear white for much of the video, with Oluwatobi using symbolism and black and white lighting to tell their story. While Salamay is pursuing his dreams, his partner can't bring herself to fully trust and open up - while he pleads with her to watch his actions.

It's a powerful cut, with super slick production and a gripping parallel between R&B and hip-hop beats with his no nonsense spoken word style of delivery.

"Took some time off trying to get some things in order," Salamay posted to his Instagram followers, speaking of the video. "Life's been lifing as of late but I'm grateful for the steps we've taken so far. Real real proud of what the team accomplished in bringing this visual to life and more details will follow regarding this video realll soon."

Oluwatobi had nothing but praise for his creative partner-in-crime.

"Rochelle as a concept had no attachment for me initially as I had no emotional attachment to the story. Through working with Salamay, I gained an understanding and a perspective into his world as an artist. This is what shifted my outlook on this work," Oluwatobi explains.

"I applied the feeling to similar situations in my life with family, friends, college and work to gain an emotional understanding and that was when the vision came to life. The process was deeply rooted in creative alignments. We spoke a lot, mapped out shots, mood boards and made an effort to understand each other as well as our crew and the music before we began the production process. This made everything super streamlined.

"'Rochelle' isn’t just a partner but anyone who doesn’t trust or believe in your process - a point of conflict and feeling like you need to prove something when trust should have always been the focal point," the director adds.

"Having that in my head helped me piece together the scenes to make the viewer understand what Salamay is trying to say. I think single or not, everyone can resonate with the story of Rochelle in some way or another. I hope that people watch and pay attention to the creative details and the nuances myself and the team pieced together to bring to life the vision of an incredible Irish artist."

You heard the man. Check out the video below, premiered by Hot Press.