Nicknames Channels Cinematic Excellence in the Musical Thriller: “Go Big or Go Home”
A fresh voice out of the DMV, singer-songwriter, bassist, and producer, Nicknames delivers an eccentric sound to the Pop-Rock scene with his newest single, “Go Big or Go Home.” Produced and written fully on his own, the song’s groovy basslines, punchy drums, sing-rappy vocal delivery, coupled with an absolutely infectious hook leaves no room for cliches or redundancies, and provides such interesting nuance to a heavily saturated genre. The single’s accompanying music video reimagines Josh and Benny Safdie’s 2019 crime thriller, Uncut Gems, in which Nicknames portrays Adam Sandler’s character, Howard Ratner, a Jewish jeweler addicted to gambling. Directed by Myles Caba from the NYC-based video production team, Sleepy Studios, the video was “shot during a long-day of running around in Brooklyn - shooting in a moving van, on the subway, and in the airport before getting kicked out”– and perfectly lives up to the song’s title.
But amidst the upbeat, YOLO energy, resides a sense of existential noir: “I owe a lot of money, they wanna take me out // but then they only get my life, there’s not much value to that,” once again, bringing such nuanced perspective through his lyrical capabilities.Well suited for what could be a soundtrack to a money heist scene, “Go Big or Go Home” is the perfect illustration of bridging cinematic influence into meaningful sonic reimaging.
Written By Abby Hyejin
