As temperatures drop and sweater weather settles in, Zeds Dead shares a heartfelt anthem to celebrate this year’s holiday season: Channel Flipping 2 “Only You.” An ode to a distant life once lived, of dial-turning box TVs and VHS cassettes, the single officially dropped on Duo’s YouTube channel. This soulful piece features samples from Nas, Three Six Mafia, John Lennon, The Platters, Lupe Fiasco, and many more, seamlessly continuing the creative journey of their 2025 album, RISH.
Painting a picture only Zeds Dead can create, this 6-minute, 34-second cosmic journey through sight, sound, and cinema is a little more melancholy than its predecessor. The vibe of “Only You” is, dare to say, slightly depressing—waves of hopelessness/nostalgia creep in like a dark and dreary winter’s afternoon. The longing for a time that can no longer be lived spills over the track in cinematic fashion.
Tune in, Turn on.
Opening with television static and a clunk of the proper channel, a black-and-white clip emerges from an old Clark Gable movie, signaling the start of the track. Static reappears, and the music comes into view. This is when the strange music starts… Only Zeds Dead can string together 50-something clips and samples into one singular, harmonious message. This was clearly done through the lens of an elder millennial with Boomer parents. The old black-and-white cinema clips transport me to my grandparents’ living room at first sight and sound.
The excerpts of Nas trickle out of my old three-compartment Boombox, sitting on top of my wooden dresser next to the faded “No Fear” sticker in my childhood bedroom. I see my dad in his recliner, wearing that faded brown and tan robe, as Dustin Hoffman yells at the taxi driver in Midnight Cowboy. Strung together perfectly and driven by that signature Zeds Dead backbeat, the desperation of the message rings loudly through the speakers. With all the chaos in the world today, we may not be the ones to fix it or even know how to, but we are aware of it.
Lets ride
Towards the end of the track, the samples of Three 6 Mafia and Warren G convey a simple message, “let’s ride this strange torpedo out” and “rock it till wheels fall off,” so to speak. Coming on the heels of MTV’s closure after 44 years on the air, “Only You” couldn’t have come at a better time in media. Perfectly encapsulating the end of an era, this track serves as an unofficial anthem for this period. The heartfelt message from Tupac Shakur at the end of the song is a delicately wrapped bow, securing that well-thought-out Christmas gift made of little money and pure joy…