Souls Of Mischief, the Oakland hip-hop collective and members of the mighty Hieroglyphics Crew have dropped a non-traditional and unusually creative first video from their new album, Montezuma's Revenge. The video is a souped up time-lapse of artist Steven Lopez painting the Montezuma's Revenge cover set to the album's lead single, "Proper Aim." The album, produced by Prince Paul and Domino, is available today, December 1st, via Hiero Imperium Records (Buy link listed below).

Souls of Mischief have always been groundbreaking musically, and now they are stretching the boundaries of hip-hop videos as well. When was the last time you saw a rap video with no rappers in it? There are no lip-synchs here- only a transfixing peak into what it takes to create a dope art piece that doubles as an attention-grabbing album cover. Sound slow? It's anything but- in fact, the video's unusual format allows the viewer an unheard-of degree of immersion into the song.

Souls handpicked artist Steven Lopez for the cover art, and Lopez had the forethought to record his multilayered process. Lopez, himself a fan of Souls since their debut album '93 'til Infinity, was excited to be given the opportunity. When asked to describe his experience working with Souls, Lopez says "when you work with other artists of a high caliber, there is no need to convince or walk them through. They are legit and it didn't take us long to have faith in each other. The icing on the cake was the fact that these cats are diehard b-boys." Lopez's work ranges from street art to collaborations with artists such as Erykah Badu. Lopez attempted to capture not only the group as a whole, but each member's individuality. "I dislike pictures that are purposely posed so I would talk to each member and ask them to reenact certain memories and moments. Those were the shots that I was looking for. It was like a picture that alludes to another story." (less info)