Jamaica’s Leno Banton released his Mr. Loverman EP in February with the intent to “set the sound of summer for the ladies.” As we move closer to the season in question, he’s back with visuals for one of the EP’s best tracks, “Pina Colada,” starring himself, a female friend and their blender.
The clip, directed by Cesar Buelto and Paul “Stamma” Watson (who also produced the video for The New Coup) is a visualizer, not a full-on music video, and the action is centralized in Banton’s kitchen. Pineapples are diced, rum is poured, buttons are pressed and sexual entendres abound before Leno and his companion, an actress dubbed only as Shelby, enjoy their concoction from a freshly-cut coconut. The visuals could double as one of those mixology tutorials you might find on YouTube. If you didn’t know what ingredients go into a pina colada, you will now.
“‘The song ‘Pina Colada’ was a testimony to a love interest, expressing how her love made me feel — which was a fun, tropical, sweet and radiant energy,” Leno says. “The video captures the essence of that feeling, which depicts us bonding while creating a pina colada drink.”
Leno Banton, you may be aware by now, is the son of Burro Banton, the iconic deejay whose rough and tough, barrel-voiced delivery helped set the tone for dancehall as it evolved from the ‘80s into the ‘90s, inspiring artists like Shabba Ranks and Buju Banton.
Smooth and melodic, Leno takes a softer approach to vocals than his legendary father. But like Burro, (whose early ‘90s version of “Boomwadis” marked a key moment in the fusion of dancehall and hip-hop) his voice sounds just as comfortable floating outside Jamaica’s borders. The Malachi-produced “Pina Colada” straddles dancehall and the more nebulous realm of island pop, employing steel drum sounds to create a pan-tropical feel that should make this one playable wherever beaches and pools can be found this summer.
