Half-time funk panic from Akeem Ali, trading his signature uber-confident persona for a dose of projector-lit restraint.
“There’s a glitch in my stride / I think something’s wrong / You’re clenching your thighs, baby / Girl, it won’t be long.” Akeem Ali opens “Latex“ right there, and the record stays planted in that split-second where confidence starts getting shaky. The drums drag in half-time with a dry rim knock and a ticking hat. The bass rolls in thick, steadying the floor. Rhodes chords breathe through an auto-wah sweep, opening and shutting with a nervous wobble, and a quick guitar flick hits the edge of a bar, then disappears.
Then his voice pulls the camera closer. Akeem sings close-mic, drawl stretched, diction clean, breath catching between phrases when the chorus arrives. That “it’s out of my hands” line flips the room, and “sustain” turns into the word he keeps grabbing for, repeated until it feels like a dare he has to stand behind. He works the anxiety through short phrases and hard stops, letting silence swing right beside the notes.
The official video stays in that same squeeze. A projector beam cuts through dust in an exposed-brick room, and director Kevon Pryce leans on close-ups and slow pushes, mostly wrists, shoulders, and that small gap between bodies. His co-star Gi moves in latex and fishnets, sealed up and in control, while Ali wears denim and cuffs, more open to the light. On-set color controller Rafel Fortier paints it in cold blue with red flares and horizontal streaks, plus a lava lamp pulsing in the corner. There’s no plot twist, just restraint as a mood, held long enough to feel almost unbearable on purpose.
Credits
Producer(s): Brian “B-Flat” Cook • Label(s): Winners United LLC • Release: 01/11/2026 • Album: Single