Dean and Zico combine on the excellently understated “Pour Up”

Dean, who has apparently been on the scene for a while, and Zico paired up for a pleasantly surprising song and music video release in “Pour Up“. I had heard almost nothing about this song until it was released, so I have no idea how much hype was built for this, but it deserves love.

The song starts with the instrumental, which I found engrossing despite the lack of busyness, and it played into the setting perfectly. The production sounds fresh but familiar, which I think was aided by the vocal modulation effect that was used. Dean‘s vocals are slick on this throughout, and he carries a perfect R&B sound. The rather haunting and chanting chorus isn’t necessarily catchy, but it’s very listenable, which is what these tracks strive for in the end. Zico, for his part, really puts in one of his better showings, opting for just spitting in an almost muted voice instead of some of the yelling sing-songy stuff he’s been doing lately.

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The music video was also well done. The airport set and the way the camera shots were used gave the impression of a more epic presentation than was actually there, and combined with the styling it all fit the song thematically.

The black-and-white shots with the house helped match the darker, more serious tones of the song, and even Zico put away the clown makeup for this. Instead of his usual hep-hap buffonery, Zico opted for subdued, darker visuals and conveyed that tonally through his rapping.

Hard to ask for much better from a track in this genre, so “Pour Up” is one that’ll go on the playlist for me. Hopefully it finds its way to some mainstream success in the meantime, as it deserves some.