If you’ve taken a look at the charts or turned on the radio at all this year, the story is blindingly clear: Roddy Ricch‘s “The Box” is 2020’s first dominant hit. Released at the tail-end of 2019 on Roddy’s debut album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, “The Box” took everyone (likely including Roddy himself) by surprise. Since then, thanks to a whining melody that’s difficult to forget and an instantly iconic ad-lib, Roddy’s star rose quickly. “A sound is easier to speak than a word,” Keefa Black, Roddy’s Atlantic Records A&R said of the song’s universal appeal. “You don’t have to understand the sound, just know the feeling. It’s just an energy that it carries.” The only thing “The Box” was missing? A music video.
While playing to YouTube is an obvious commercial strategy, some songs — like “Old Town Road” before “The Box” — can still come as a genuine surprise. Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial was filled with potential hits, but “The Box” was the track to blow up, and without a prepared visual to accompany it. So, nearly two months after its rise, the song finally gets its video, featuring a very large production budget’s worth of scenes; Roddy races cars, plays basketball, raps on a factory conveyor belt, is put on display in a museum as well as pursued by a S.W.A.T. team, and stands on the wall of a burning building. With the expected attention that could come from YouTube, expect to keep hearing “The Box” for a bit longer.
