If you haven’t been drawn into the #WeRunTheBlock hysteria by now, we can only presume you have been living under a rock. But incase you aren’t aware, here’s the story so far.
Leading by example, the ‘new generation’ pioneer recognised how highly disposable online content has become to the average music consumer. Thus deciding not to free up his latest banger until the time was right.
Produced by Heavytrackerz, the collective who are being dubbed the UK’s answer to The Neptunes, “We Run The Block” was born. After nearly 4 months of live performances and radio play (only) fans became feverish at the chance of hearing/seeing the track, traceable online only by preeing the #WeRunTheBlock hashtag. With this simplistic and back to basics approach Bonkaz equally grabbed the attention of the industry, making the admirable move of inking a single deal with Sony’s imprint Pitched Up.
Taking the power back into his own hands, the Croydon hailing artist decided it was finally time to put the song he had been holding so closely to his chest out to the world. Premiering the audio on SoundCloud last week, “We Run The Block” amassed over 30k listens before he continued to side step around the status quo, giving the first visual premiere to TV channel Channel AKA.
Today is the day fans have been waiting for. The official video on YouTube. Directed by Dwyte Smith and Ray Fiasco of Asylum 33 creative collective, Bonkaz hits the concrete jungle for his trendy take on a gritty visual.
The video for the new school Grime record features cameos from a load of London’s most promising creatives, including Etta Bond, Avelino, Renz, and Kojey Radical. P Money also makes an appearance, which isn’t surprising considering he is set to be on the remix for the track alongside Kojey, Jendor and Mikill Pane.
It’s needless to say that “We Run The Block” is on route to becoming one of the biggest tracks of 2015.