New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Vevo, the world's leading music video network, today released Italian-Egyptian hitmaker Mahmood's first performance in his LIFT series, "Ghettolimpo". "Ghettolimpo" is title track off his new album, released via Island Records/Universal
Music Italy, and will be followed by a performance of "Talata (٣)" and a short film titled, "The Making of Mahmood."
Vevo's LIFT programme connects today's up-and-coming and most relevant artists to audiences around the world through music video content. Launched in 2011, Vevo's artist development program shines a spotlight on the world's freshest new talent. Vevo LIFT alumni include the likes of Billie Eilish,
Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Halsey, Khalid, Jorja Smith, YUNGBLUD, and more.
"We're thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to collaborate on this series with Mahmood," says Claudia De Wolff, Vice President of Content & Programming, Vevo, "We always treasure working with artists that are just as passionate about telling a story on film as they are sonically, and Mahmood's creative vision for this project was unmatched. We've been impressed with his artistry since the release of "Soldi," and are so happy to be able to bring his tracks to life in a way that his fans haven't seen before."
Vevo worked closely with
Mahmood to conceptualize a creative that played into the duality of his Egyptian-Italian heritage. They settled on taping the performances during a two-day shoot on the Italian Island of Sardinia, where his mother grew up and he had fond memories of.
Mahmood's "Ghettolimpo" performance starts off with him gazing to the distance, singing of "a sky who watches over those who deserve it." A sudden mic switch and boom of a distant drumset startle viewers, panning out to reveal a fierce Mahmood, telling a story of Narcissus and the dangers around sudden success.
Mahmood explained to Rolling Stone that much of Ghettolimpo is inspired by Greek Mythology, recalling being treated differently by loved ones after returning home from his time on Eurovision. "It was something that scared me a lot. For them I was Olympus, but inside I was always ghetto." With Vevo's creative, Mahmood's confliction is on full display with a spellbinding mixture of street style, sand and a bedouin skateboarder that makes for a remarkably visually compelling tale.
"I had the opportunity to record two live songs from my new album "Ghettolimpo" for the first time in my homeland, Sardinia." Says
Mahmood "It was a mystical journey in which we recreated almost surreal situations. In the videos, the choice of locations and landscapes perfectly accompanies the flavors and intentions that I wanted to give to the songs and therefore to those who listen to them: For "Talata" I reinterpreted the myth of King Midas in the Antas temple and I chose to sing "Ghettolimpo", the main track of the album, on a skate platform in the middle of the dunes in Piscinas beach."
