An Ode to Nomadism: Wiki Premiers his New Video 'Home'
Patrick Morales aka Wiki is a unique member of the New York Hip-Hop scene. Since his breakthrough ten years ago with Wikispeaks, the lyricist and rapper has built a reputation for producing tracks with raw emotion and a hard lyrical flow, meticulously balancing aggression and vulnerability. Growing up in the NYC melting pot, he moved between Brooklyn, Chinatown and the Upper West Side - his work reflects true love for his city and all its cultural nuances.
His latest project is the direction and execution of the music video for Home, one of the sixteen tracks in his most recent album Half God. Filmed in Peckham, the video opens with Wiki and producer, Subjxct 5, sitting on the steps of a South London white bricked terraced house. Rapping with ease as Subjxct 5 beatboxes, Wiki spits “just signed a lease, already evicted us… but it’s my home you livin in, this ridiculous”. A theme running throughout Wiki’s lyrics is gentrification - a major problem mirrored in London.
Hazy and nostalgic, the videography cuts between scenes of Wiki cooking and chilling in different homes in different areas. When asked about the inspiration behind the video, the rapper expressed, “the idea was different environments, but you make it your home. It’s that constant movement. It’s about being nomadic but finding a home within that”.
Travelling from the age of 18, Wiki tells me a tour story “there was one time on the road, we kept breaking down. We’re driving down the road, and then we see the trailer is on fire. We’re like oh shit. Our driver was like mad obsessed with bad boys, he had all the DVDs and shit. His Instagram was like ‘the real Mike Lowrey’ (one of the main characters), he ran through the flames trying to save all the merch and shit. It was like crazy. We were just there in the middle of nowhere on this flaming fucking tour bus.”
When asked about his relationship with London, Wiki explains “London is like my second home, it’s way more like New York than any other city because you’re right in there, it’s like a cultural hub. It’s like everything coming together. A mix of people from different places. Africans and Jamaicans, in New York it’d be like Puerto Ricans and Dominicans for example, it’s everything being in a close area.” He also comments on the city's iconic chicken shops;
“In New York they got chicken shops in the hood, but out there they got the chicken shops everywhere. You got all your chicken cottages and shit.”
NYC and London are paralleled by the influence and traditions brought in from communities around the world. Musically, the most poignant, recognised genres in the UK and US, such as Hip-Hop and Grime were developed in both New York and London. However, despite being classed as quintessentially “British” or “American”, they are rooted entirely outside of these regions, created by generations of Afro-Caribbean communities who migrated to the cities.
Wiki’s love for the UK music scene is evident in his active effort to collaborate with artists such as Skepta and joining Slowthai on tour. The next UK name he has earmarked to work with is Green Tea Peng. He next visits the UK for his 2022 tour from the 22 to 27th of July - he will be visiting Bristol, London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“I’m hyped to visit all the cities, London’s like New York, everyone’s cool, it’s chill. But then you go to Manny and shit, everyone's going nuts,” he says.
In the upcoming months, Wiki is set to release a new tape Cold Cuts with Subjxct “it’s a little more aggressive, a bit banging, less loops and more organic freelying shit, it’s like an ode to hip-hop”.
