The Avalanches Recruit Sonny Cheeba For "Because I'm Me"

Filmed in the The Fordham Metro-North Railroad station, The Avalanches’ charming new video for “Because I’m Me” features a young Michael Jackson look-alike dancing along to the track as an entire horn section follows him. Paired with the inimitable talents of Camp Lo’s Sonny Cheeba, the song is infectious from beginning to end.

“We started filming about three weeks ago,” Cheeba tells DX. “My verse is about when I was coming up and things that were going on around that time. As far as the texture of the video, it looks just like I envisioned it.”

Dressed in fly ’70s clothes, including a cabbie hat and vintage shades, Cheeba executes his rhymes like the seasoned vet he is. They clearly had a blast filming the video, which effortlessly captures the spirit of the song.

“The little kid in the video is real cool,” he says. “He’s a dancer and I guess he’s been taking classes for years. It was really fun to shoot. I was laughing as they were doing it. I had a great time.”