Ethiopian-American rapper Siimba Selassie releases video for “Bes’mam”

Siimba Selassie, formerly known as Siimba Liives Long, recently debuted the music video for his latest single, “Bes’mam.” Directed by Nick Von Gremp, the same director behind Selassie’s critically acclaimed videos “Bad for the Soul,’ ft. Kamau, “Bes’mam” provides a stripped back window into the world of Selassie. “Bes’mam’s” simplistic aesthetic allows Selassie’s quizzical and mesmerizing bars to be the focal point of the three-minute video.

For the uninitiated, Siimba Selassie is a Brooklyn-based musician born in New York, and raised in a myriad of places from Ethiopia and Washington DC to New Jersey.  “Bes’mam” follows Selassie’s recent critically acclaimed single “Patiently” with his group Splash Brothers that includes Allan Kingdom, Topaz Jones, Kamau, and brother Haile Supreme. 

His debut music video, “Cocaine Biimbie,” featured the emcee return to his Ethiopian roots to play quite literally with lions and eat fire. This cut from Siimba’s 2017 project “Zemenay’s Gemiinii,” awarded Siimba critical praise from tastemakers including NPR, Noisey, FADER, Complex, DJ Booth, Hot New Hip Hop, and more. Selassie, an artist described by NPR as “sportive yet serious, playing equal parts esoteric and quizzical,” will be gearing up for the release of new sonic series VIICES coming June 2019

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