Khemist pays homage to Dylan in his new “Upright” video

Call it a tip of the bucket hat from one wordsmith to another: Philly rapper Khemist released a new music video this week for his song “Upright,” shot in the style of Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”

The black and white clip directed by Max Morgan and shot by Alex Reinhard and Adam Hribar finds Khemist just up the way from the Divine Lorraine hotel in the city’s Francisville section, flipping through cards containing lyrical cues from the song and highlighting its message of coping with stress and anxiety, and learning to shine and prosper.

With a slick beat and lightly plucked acoustic guitar figure that’s reminiscent of Brazilian jazz, Khemist spits rapid bars orbiting around a central hook where he yearns to learn how to “let go of what’s holding me down.”

Watch the video below. Khemist’s vulnerable “Stay For Me” also got a stunning music video treatment last month, and he released his Khemtrails EP on Juneteenth of 2020.