As the chill of winter encroaches on us children of summer, Brooklyn-based duo Salt Cathedral have returned with an exuberant new video to help us stave off our parkas for another day. Premiering on Remezcla today, the new clip for the band’s delightful dancehall-inspired track “Rude Boy” is a glorious short packed with sunshine, modern styling, and rapturous dancing that will get you striking runway poses as you run to the corner store for a snack.
The Susan O’Brien-directed clip features Salt Cathedral’s Juliana Ronderos and Nicolas Losada and multiple dancers dressed to the nines in a series of vibrant prints, headpieces, and boldly cut garments styled by Amber Rana Studios, María Fernanda Montané, and Patricia Cedeño Orozco. “We really wanted a piece that reflected and expressed our personality,” the colombianos tell Remezcla via email. “We are new-generation Latinos who take inspiration from a globalized world where meaning meets aesthetics. The looks are inspired in Frida Kahlo because she is a very strong feminine figure who represents the intersection of pain, struggle, art, and feminism.” Choice sequences with the band dressed in all-white are also a clever palate cleanser, keeping the clip from straying into visual excess.
In a way, “Rude Boy” is a conceptual expression on the plurality of identities that weave together in the rich and chaotic tapestry that is New York City. The song itself is a musical smile, beaming with the vitality we so closely associate with dancehall and Caribbean communities, communicated with elegance through a diverse cast of dancers that fill metropolitan spaces like parks and basketball courts with joyful movement. Between the clothes, the fruits and flowers, and the song’s catchy chorus, “Rude Boy” aims to project warmth and colorful optimism into a season heavily dominated by jaded moods and all-black wardrobes.
Watch the “Rude Boy” video below.