Creating art in the face of one’s own mortality is a powerful, inspiring endeavor. Like J Dilla and Camu Tao before him, former Remy Zero drummer Gregory Scott Slay was aware he would not beat his illness, and spent his final days doing what he loved surrounded by the people that he loved. His final album, Horsethief Beats, was posthumously released last November with the help of collaborators Jeffrey Cain and Cedric LeMoyne. Cain described the record as “the conversation of a spirit that is ready to move on, and a human not ready to let go.” The stellar stop motion video for “New Loop, Old Hope,” created by Kris Daw, further illuminates the unenviable position of forging what you know will be your last work, and, in many regards, what the world will remember you for.

New Loop, Old Hope from Kris Daw on Vimeo.