The new video “Let’s Build” from Chicago artist F.Stokes may have been shot on the streets of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, but Stokes says the track was actually “made in 1985 or ’86 in a welfare office on the Southside of Chicago.  This piece is derived from the cold, empty, hopeless emotions I felt when I saw my mother filling out the paper work as me and my sister waited.” Regardless of the moment when it began to come together, the visuals fully feature the legendary Brooklyn neighborhood, which was the setting for Spike Lee‘s classic Do The Right Thing. No stranger to the BK borough-he recently performed at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival-Stokes is fully aware of the link between the brownstones that line the street and the cultural heritage that whirls through the neighborhood: “This video is my personal dedication to the brilliant mind of Spike Lee. The dolly shot, which Spike is known for, is one of the more powerful, yet simple angles in the history of film. As we moved through the streets, the architecture of Bed-Stuy served as my house band, whispering the history Black America note for note as I floated through the streets.”

As the Maria Juranic-directed video, which premiered on Brooklyn Vegan, came together, Stokes looked to the figures in the background for reinforcement that the video was telling the story honestly. He recalls one particular spectator: “The most enjoyable moment was a conversation I had with this little girl who was 4 or 5, and her mother. The girl was highly interested in the process and very camera shy. Her smile assured me that this video was exactly right.”

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