The relentlessly positive, Brooklyn-based hip-hop artist F.Stokes has dropped a nuclear bomb of goodness onto his adopted hometown of Madison. Shot here over 12 hours between two live shows last October, "My Simple" is a video valentine featuring Madison people and Madison locations, like the Crystal Corner Bar. This is the second "My Simple" video, the only public version.
"The original video was shot in L.A. about nine-months ago and cost about $10,000," says F.Stokes, on the phone from Brooklyn. "Fancy producers" oversaw the project. A house was rented for the core scenes. Actors portrayed Stokes family and friends. After production, Stokes sat on the video for nine months.
"It was so unsettling because I knew I had to shoot this video in Madison, Wisconsin, my hometown," says Stokes. "The video had to reflect the city that has helped me and continues to propel my art." As a teenager, Stokes moved to Madison from Chicago with his mother and restarted their life at a shelter.
Even as the video heats up online, F.Stokes has other, bold ideas for it, including performing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I have a passion to push this thing until I'm actually on Ellen doing a dance with her."
F.Stokes' new EP, Love, Always, drops next month, just after his show at UW Union South's Sett on Saturday, February 11.
