To understand the full gravity of the decision just made by 014, you have to go back about 5 years.
When artist Nok from the Future first emerged in the underground music scene, part of his appeal was the fact he had always remained faceless. Not knowing the physical identity, location, or really any details at all about his personal life or music connections allowed his already unique sound to succeed under this mysterious persona. For several years Nok released high quality content under this name and attracted a sizable following addicted to his deconstructed beats and catchy hooks. I have no doubt that his choice to hide his identity at the time contributed heavily to the branding of himself and his sound.
After choosing to relinquish the name NOK from the Future for the alias 014 (you can read about this transition here: 014 profile), listeners really haven’t seen much content released that remains available. Over a year after making the switch to 014, we are presented with a fantastic surprise that is the song “Broke Boy”, with a truly shocking music video to accompany it.
The video itself appears to be pretty low budget, with only a few camera angles and pretty basic visual effects: the production isn’t anything special. But I honestly doubt anyone noticed. In fact, the only thing a fan of 014 (or those still listening from the NOK days) is interested in is the fact we finally get to see the face of the artist behind both projects.
The song is the best content we’ve heard from 014 yet, his lyrics are clever as usual on top of a simple but appealing guitar beat. The entire mood set by the song makes me incredibly hopeful for the direction 014 is headed. While you could argue its too soon to tell, seeing 014 sing about being a broke kid compiled with footage of him doing mundane activities removes him from the slightly intangible position he held for so many years. Someone who previously seemed unpredictable and consistently out of reach now seems more transparent and ultimately relatable.
As far as 014’s career goes, this was probably the best thing he could’ve done. After a confusing year of disappearing content and updates that were difficult to follow, fans now have a personable figure they can support as he builds a new reputation. I’m extremely hopeful 014 will continue to release quality content with the personality we got to see in this video, however I would also not be surprised if he ultimately continues to keep listeners on their toes through more identity and style shifts.