Words by Jesse Serwer
It took some 20 years for St. Croix roots giants Midnite to release their first music video, for “Mongst I & I,” in 2011. But now that Vaughn Benjamin and crew have gotten used to the process, more and more visuals are springing forth. The latest video from Midnite is for “Credited,” off of their recent I-Grade Records release, Ride Tru. The video was directed by LargeUp contributor Birhan Tonge and shot at Mount Victory Camp in St. Croix, USVI, site of the Dub in the Rainforest performance series.
Lyrically, the song is classic Midnite, weaving a variety of topics and themes together including Benjamin’s observations of the Rastafari Agricultural Fair in Bordeaux, St. Thomas. The artistsans, farmers and vendors he encountered there are in turn represented through the video, a surreal and innovative clip which utilizes the original artwork created at the scene of the filming by artists Marcus Wilson and Omar Boothman. (Wilson is the official artist of Midnite, having painted the vast majority of Midnite’s 52 album covers.)
Watch the video below, and look out for LargeUp’s webisode with Vaughn Benjamin + Pressure Busspipe coming soon as part of our “Virgin Islands Nice” series.