Hip-hop videos set in dark nightclubs might be done to death, but those other videos aren’t from Open Mike Eagle. Like most of what the Los Angeles-based artist produces, the video for “Ziggy Starfish (Anti-Anxiety Raps)” injects some lightheartedness into topics that need it, coupling romantic drama and vulnerable verses with hilarious cameo.
That’s not to say the track is all fun and games, however. After a series of references capped by a nod to XTC’s “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead”, Open Mike Eagle uses the last verse to open up as he touches on racial inequality, black identity, and personal anxiety. Director Kris Merc puts forth two lovers staring intensely at one another, and while we’re left to digest this depth, we’re presented with Hannibal Buress being transfixed by bubbles, glazed with his characteristic feigned aloofness.
Already in touch with the comedy world, Open Mike Eagle gets humor right with the video for “Ziggy Starfish”. Anxiety affects most people, and he knows that we need to laugh at our problems. What better way to do that than with bubbles?
“Ziggy Starfish (Anti-Anxiety Raps)” appears on Open Mike Eagle’s A Special Episode Of EP.
