Longshot & Lazerbeak's "Here For A Reason" was filmed in downtown Minneapolis, but it's set in a whole other plane. One where green squiggles dash off from our movements; one where bricks go aquamarine as we walk by, a little like the tiles in "Billie Jean." One where an invisible hand spraypaints the Sydney Prince mural onto a passing bus.

"Here For A Reason" is the second single from Parades, the collaborative album from the Doomtree producer and Chicago-Minneapolis emcee. "Longshot and I met years back when he would come through town on tour with Psalm One," Lazerbeak writes on the Doomtree blog. "I’ve been kicking him beat tapes for various solo projects ever since, and we slowly started compiling a vault of tracks over time." Parades drops June 8, and if you like bonus tracks and supporting independent music, you can pre-order it right here. The release party goes down at First Avenue on July 4.

Parades isn't the first Minneapolis collaboration Longshot has worked on. After winning a Rhymesayers remix contest, he moved from Chicago to Minneapolis around 2009. He and Dem Atlas released "No Matter What" in 2015. His 2016 album Struggle Music includes features from Minnesota folks Desdamona, Toki Wright, Haphduzn, Brian Just, and Jeremy Nutzman (aka Velvet Negroni).

Back to those computer-animated flourishes: for one thing, they just look cool. But on another level, as an iridescent stream trails behind Longshot, it prompts the idea that we do affect the world around us. "We all are here for a reason," Longshot sings.

This video was directed by Phantom Sloth, aka Adam Dunn.