Stokley has released the official video for his Wale-assisted track “Cafe,” directed by Josh Sikkema.
The video begins at the Lantern Coffee Bar & Lounge in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where a male patron sings Mint Condition’s 1991 classic “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes).” He gets his lucky break when Stokley walks in and rewards his singing chops with a cup of coffee.
For most of the video, a stylish Stokley grooves to “Cafe” in a solo frame. He also spends time on the set of a photoshoot featuring three beautiful Black women. Wale doesn’t join the R&B vet for the visual but has his verse mouthed by the women at the shoot.
“Cafe” is lifted from Stokley’s sophomore solo album, Sankofa, released in September 2021. It the album’s latest focus track, following the top five R&B radio and Billboard success of “Woman” featuring KiDi and his number one single “She…”
In an interview with Rated R&B, Stokley expressed how he felt that Wale named him a musical mentor. “I look at myself as an example. People say role models, but it’s an example of what you can become, what you can do, [and] how you could pass it on, just as it was passed on to me.”
As for Sankofa, Stokley shared, “It’s an elevation as well as going deeper, broader and farther than I’ve gone before. It’s more personal. It’s more intimate.”
Sankofa features guest appearances from Wale, Snoop Dogg, The Bonfyre, Shakespeare! and H.E.R. In the same interview, Stokley talked about working with H.E.R. on the song “Rush.”
“[It’s] a great collaboration. She sent the idea to me. I pretty much just put all my intricate stuff over it, inside it, and it made sense. It had a little Minneapolis slant on it, kind of Princely but new and old R&B. I like flirting in between those two worlds. It worked out perfectly,” he shared.
Stokley is supporting Sankofa with several concerts this summer and fall. Tickets are available on his official website.
Watch Stokley’s “Cafe” video below.