Premiere: Sap Evans Scouts A Hazy Backdrop In “Summerland”

Last week, diligent hip-hop artist Sap Evans unveiled his latest mixtape entitled Albatross, a release teeming with rolling bars that move through beats and soundscapes produced by himself as well as other prominent producers like Solomon Wexley, clwdwlkr, & Robalu Gibsun. This Soundcloud exclusive was put out as a single half-hour track, with no designation or markers between songs so that it all flows together as one thriving conversation moving through soulful backdrops. Despite that intent though, listeners can still find their own individual tracks to discover and love, something Evans is helping with the release of a new video for the mixtape’s third track, “Summerland.” Out everywhere on Tuesday, May 23rd, The Auricular is pleased to offer an exclusive stream of the video one day early, as well as some thoughts on the making of “Summerland.”

Directed by Sean King, the video finds Sap Evans rolling through all vantage parts of the scenic city, with aerial footage of him spinning rhymes on the pavement below or eye-level footage of him moving to the beat on a rooftop with the sky as his backdrop. Overcast but still sunny, that collection of clouds point to the appeal of the song which offers a soulful haze looped around a patient beat that sputters on the phrase marker. Evans doesn’t crowd this relaxing beat as he makes his lyrical impact, weaving in and out with a grimey flow that pushes the song from relaxing ambience into stimulating attention.

“Summerland” traces its genesis back to 2019 when Sap Evans first constructed the beat, though it would take years for him to find the words and rhythm to fit the sounds. “I made that beat back in like 2019,” Evans told us. “Always wanted to record to it. Never quite found the right flavor for it until one day I was just super fed up with seeing a lot of disingenuous situations within different associates throughout the city. Nothing that affected me personally, but just something I wanted to speak on. All love to my bubs they know who they are.”

In typical Sap Evans fashion, the video gives us just a little more than music to check out as the whole affair begins on a story re-telling of an experience in Key West for a birthday celebration. Skinny dipping and Grateful Dead highlight this wacky story, which has become a hallmark of the visual collaboration between Sap Evans and Sean King that first began with “Hound,” a music video the pair put out this past March. All in all, it makes for an engaging video that speaks to the artistic flair and amusing wit of Sap Evans, with his latest single as an absorbing focal point.

The music video for “Summerland” will be released on Tuesday, May 23rd through Sap Evans’ YouTube channel and the Albatross mixtape is available now via Soundcloud. Make sure to follow Sap Evans on Twitter and Instagram as well so you can keep up-to-date on more tracks, tapes, and videos as they drop.