Video: ESP Evolution (@ESPEvolution) - Growing Up

[Jennifer Gonzalez]

ESP Evolution speaks truth to power on the highly personal “Growing Up”. With a video that further emphasizes the unequal way children grow up, one’s environment can dictate the opportunities available. Lyrics really do rest front and center of the entire thing. By wrapping them in an updated soulful style at times ESP Evolution taps into the vein of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?”. Through highlighting the injustice and warped distribution of resources, ESP Evolution shows exactly all the additional obstacles that those who grow up less privileged face. Drawing from small video vignettes of parents playing with their young ones, of encouraging them to rise above their circumstances, the whole of the song gains a rather hopeful air, a desire to truly excel.

Everything gets filtered into the mix almost immediately. Stylistically the track draws from hip-hop, R&B, and a bit of soul. Including a bit of a faded take on the color, the video perfectly matches the level of nostalgia that the song incorporates. When the vocals enter into the mix things truly get started. Over the course of the track the lyrics focus upon a life fully lived, the ups and the downs that make it all truly worthwhile. A sense of compassion further adds to the emotional heft of the mix.