Quentin Ballantino is the darker, more sullen version of Queens rapper Otis Clapp. The alter ego– whose name merges the names of revered movie director, Quentin Tarantino, and Clapp’s favorite beer, Ballantine –is at the fore of the title track from the emcee’s new EP Quentin. Today (9/5/18), the song’s visuals are relinquished via Northern Transmissions.
“[This song] is Quentin Ballantino properly introducing himself. For the video, myself, director Nyenteenatey2, and co-producer Oskar Lavista, used some cool locations and dope lighting to create a unique aesthetic… We wanted to give this video a cinematic feel. Sonically, the song is a bit hollow in the sense that it’s minimal in instrumentation. So, visually, we wanted to convey that same dark, empty feel. The scenery is wide and open like the song’s pianos, with Quentin in the middle of it all.” – Otis Clapp
Link to premiere of “Quentin” on Northern Transmissions: https://goo.gl/8XNpjX
Entirely produced by Ricky Vaughn, Quentin serves as the follow-up to Clapp’s 2017 Helen Keller project. With a darker tone, Quentin covers the rapper’s struggles with mental health, ruminations of death, and more. Learn more about Clapp’s writing process on the EP here.
Purchase/stream Quentin here: https://goo.gl/QqnVZh
Previous:
- “Eulogy” video (premiered by GroundSounds)
- “Talk To Myself” Pt. 2 video (premiered by HipHopDX)
- “Flight School” video
- Freestyle on Statik Selektah‘s ShowOff Radio (SiriusXM’s Shade45)
More about Otis Clapp
Hailing from Queens, New York, Otis buried himself in music from a young age as a means of escaping an unstable and abusive home life. His passion for hip hop drove him from lunchroom cyphers to sharing stages with heavyweights such as Action Bronson, Diplo, J.Cole, Mac Miller, Ab Soul and more. While Otis always scribbled rhymes in the back of the classroom, it wasn’t until he heard Common and Sadat-X on “1999” that he realized he wanted a career in hip hop.
By 1999 Otis began writing, producing, mixing and mastering his own music. His diligence paid off in 2011, when Otis was afforded the opportunity to mix and executive produce three projects for YC The Cynic (now known as Kemba), including his 2013 GNK album. This led to a performance opportunity at the four year anniversary of “Comedy at the Knitting Factory,” hosted by Hannibal Buress. Here, Otis performed before Chris Rock’s surprise performance and comedian Amy Schumer later co-signed Otis’s song “Fiona.” In 2014, following his second straight appearance at CMJ week and a special guest performance at the NY Loves Dilla event, Otis performed alongside YC at the Heineken Green Room with Ghostface Killah, and performed at the 2015 Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. Named one of the top “underground” artists of 2011 and 2012, Otis is set to rekindle flames with his forthcoming Quentin EP.
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