Hey! Let Maze Koroma Take You On a Tour of Rare Portland in the Video For "You'll Always Be My Sunshine"

"I pass by a lot of these locations pretty frequently so we wanted to really go in and get all of the rarest shots that we could," Koroma says.

IMAGE: Riley Brown.

Maze Koroma is one of Portland's most adventurous rappers, and his laid-back creativity extends to everything he does. Case in point: His latest video, for "You'll Always Be My Sunshine," which we're premiering here. The song is a master class of minimalism, the beat made up of little more than sub-bass and what sounds like waves lapping up on a shoreline, and the video is just as simple. It's Koroma rapping in front in various Portland locales that you rarely see in videos—no bridge shots here. And as understated as it is, there's a loose quality to it that makes it an endearing watch. Koroma and director Riley Brown told us about what they were going for:

Maze Koroma: I really wanted to highlight all the really cool architecture in Portland all the houses, warehouses and random buildings. I pass by a lot of these locations pretty frequently so we wanted to really go in and get all of the rarest shots that we could. The basketball clips were real though Riley just so happened to be there while I was training so we decided to just put that part in the video.

Riley Brown: My main goal for this project, besides making a video that stands out from the rest, was to have fun. I noticed before this project that I was starting to lose enjoyment and interest in going out and shooting visuals. I knew that that feeling had to change. What I like about working with Maze is that we're really good with thinking on the fly about what will work visually, and neither one of us is afraid to say no. My favorite part was the whole basketball sequence because it was improvised on the spot and we were both laughing nonstop while filming it. But I also love the vibrant and very saturated color theme throughout the video, and having a different location for each bar in the track. I have personally never seen it done before. It's a very different video than what people are used to seeing.

Related: "Maze Koroma's Psych-Rap Reflects the Tension of the Present, but He's Got Hope for the Future."

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