07.25
Some more good music for y’all! A couple weeks ago, Sean Little and Wonder Brown dropped a video off their new collab album, a love aPhiliated. Here is the music video for “Universal City” and short Q&A with Sean Little. We may seem like we should be getting a late pass with the posting of these videos, but we don’t mind putting them up later so that everyone remembers these songs and artists after the initial push (even if we have the interviews ready from the jump). Not everyone knows these two yet, but they are a couple good hip-hop artists to get familiar with. Don’t sleep.
Ill Breaks Crew: What is the concept of the song?
Sean Little: Conceptually, Universal City began one morning I was sitting in a Rhetorical Theory class at the University of Cincinnati. My Professor was discussing the history of what we know as the University. The idea of a collective educational experience gave birth to thoughts of not only the shared experience of staff and students at University, but on a larger scale, the collective experience of my city (at that time) Cincinnati, and on a very macro scale, the human experience of all mankind. I shared that idea idea with Wonder and the concept took off. So, the final product of Universal City is observation. Wonder Brown discusses specific details focused on one inner-city dweller, as well as himself. The chorus encompasses general implications of city living. My verses dabble and account for an onlookers perspective, both from outside the context, and as a part of it as well. I conclude with the my personal longing, and what I believe is the longing of man, “you see the city lights and the city pressure/ once my pleasure, I want to feel more.”
Ill Breaks Crew: Why did you want to put out a song like this?
Sean Little: The song Universal City is a single from my collaboration album, with Wonder Brown of the Scribbling Idiots, titled a love aPhiliated. From the instant Wonder let me hear this beat, I have shared his fondness for [producer] Vintage’s composition. When considering which song we wanted to bring to life with a video, we decided on Universal City for a few reasons: the overall excellence of the song itself, the accessible content and concept, and the capturing of our city, Cincinnati, which has been influential on us individually and collectively.
Ill Breaks Crew: What do you hope that people do with this song in their lives?
Sean Little: Pay attention and consider the content.
Ill Breaks Crew: Do you wish that you had heard a song like this when you were younger?
Sean Little: My initial thought when I read this question was an emphatic “yes!” The following thought was, “I did hear songs like this when I was young.” Specifically, with the upmost respect for the artists I am about to mention, I think of Blackstar’s ‘Respiration’ featuring Common. They each accounted for the culture and society of the day, while introspectively looking at the ever-influential inner-city context; which, I feel, Wonder and myself sought to do as well. Comparing these songs, there are so many similarities; which is fascinating considering the vast differences of the authors perspectives, from Kweli, Mos, and Common, to Wonder and myself.
Ill Breaks Crew: What is the concept behind the video?
Sean Little: Given the concept of the song, the video was filmed exclusively in Cincinnati, OH. Wonder Brown and myself are Cincinnati natives. We created this song, and the ‘a love aPhiliated’ album in Cincinnati. So, our hope with the visualization of the song was to capture some of the context that inspired the writing. Thomas Bernardin (director/producer) and Jessica Bernardin (photographer) did an incredible job bringing to the eye what we were able to bring to the ear.
Ill Breaks Crew: How does your faith come through on this song or video?
Sean Little: In the song the obvious answer is, in the lyrics. What do we say specifically? Well, I invite you and everyone reading this article, watching the video, or listening to the music to seek and find 
. In the video, I am not sure I even know the answer to that question, you’ll have to let me know!
Ill Breaks Crew: What aspect of God would you want people to take away from this?
Sean Little: My intent in writing this song was not to communicate a specific aspect of God’s character. Lyrically, there is some personal theological direction I lay out in my verses. For example, in the third verse,”I say ‘there’s always profit to be made/ gossip to be relayed/ God sits deep in the shade/ watches Broadway relate/ alcoholic sips his pain away”. An idea (which is not my own) that I am seeking to communicate is that there is no difference between sacred and secular. The God of the scriptures is a God that is dually removed from His creation, as well as intimately and personally involved with it. Yes, God is in heaven; but, an equal truth is that, in the life of the person Jesus, and in the life of the Holy Spirit since the ascension of Jesus, God is simultaneously on this earth. Therefore, God is not exclusively at the temple (sacred), or the modern rendition of the temple, the church building; rather, He is alive and active, in the world (secular), in those whom He has called to Himself and commissioned to make Him known in the broken, enslaved, hurting, world.
For even more behind the scenes info on this video, check out another video, “The Making of Universal City” by clicking here. To hear more from Sean Little, click here, and for more from Wonder Brown, click here.
