Oddisee – “You Grew Up” (Video)

Oddisee has revisited his The Iceberg album with a new animated video for “You Grew Up.” In and throughout the song, Oddisee raps a story about how xenophobia turned into hate, as well as childhood friends of different races turning into something of enemies as they got older. The video accompanies and describes the song through an animated point of view that follows the characters’ growth in the songs.

Below are a couple things that Oddisee had to say about the idea of song when he recently talked with NPR. The video was directed and animated by Eugene & Louise. Listen and purchase his latest album The Iceberg, and watch our interview with the talented artist here.

“One of my closest friends at the time was a white male. As a child, I observed our differences as personal and not cultural. It wasn’t until my family relocated to the predominantly African-American community of Prince George’s County that I understood where our differences stemmed from. As police brutality became a serious issue in recent times, along with America confronting it’s deep-rooted racism, I wondered where my childhood friend now stood.”

“I’ve always attempted to see polarizing issues from both sides. Being angry at the end result of a problem is the easiest thing to do. Having an understanding for why things are they way they are requires a level of sympathy I wish society possessed. If we tackle issues from the root, perhaps we as a people can be more effective in solving them. Giving context to how an officer would shoot an innocent person and showing how we’re indoctrinated into our beliefs and bias[es] could possibly inspire new methods to deal with them.”- Oddisee