Check Out The Self-Directed Music Video For Rudy Mancuso’s First Solo Single, “Mama”

The multi-talented YouTube star Rudy Mancuso is continuing his musical foray with “Mama” — the third single from his forthcoming album, and the first song that he has released from the project without a collaborator. Previously, Mancuso teamed with girlfriend Maia Mitchell and noted writer/performer Poo Bear on singles “Magic” and “Black & White,” respectively.

In “Mama,” the 26-year-old reflects on life lessons learned as a result of succumbing to temptation. The music video is surreal and sad, with Mancuso dancing alongside a fleet of animal mascots who attempt to lure him toward the very vices that his mother warns against, like drinking and smoking. He also gets repeatedly slapped in the face in a bid to jar him out of these unhealthy patterns.

“The song is about the tribulations of youth and everything that comes with that: resisting temptations, making poor decisions, learning from them, then making more poor decisions,” Mancuso says. “The pattern is simple — my heart gets broken, my mother consoles me, temptation persuades me to rebel, I realize how dumb my decisions were, then I do it all over again. In the end, when I’m left with nothing but guilt, I have no choice but to suppress it. I have to play it cool.”

The video was directed by Mancuso and produced by Shots Studios — the talent management company and digital production company with whom he is partnered. Since Mancuso shared the video on Friday, “Mama” has garnered 3.3 million views, and is currently sitting at No. 21 on YouTube’s ‘Trending’ chart.