i can't believe sony music paid for this video.

www.deadprez.com

         

REAL | QUICKTIME | WINDOWS MEDIA LOW | WINDOWS MEDIA HIGH

had some cool stuff... the beginning was kind of dumb in idea but was pulled off well - though during the middle, it felt less like home video and more like super-low-budget video. And aren't these guys supposed to be political?

         

how is this NOT political?

         

uhh, bunch of black guys rob a white vacationing family, proceed to videotape their antics, get arrested, and then it was all a dream - oh, I see now, it's all an alleogory for the current political unrest in Bolivia.

         

It's satire, duh. This is my favorite video ever. It's based on these bootleg videos you can get of gangsters videotaping themselves comitting crimes.

         

that's a pretty limited view of what "political" means. this video IS about civics.

first we set up an economic force: the vacationing white middle class family. and the kids are exactly the MTV audience who are watching rap videos.

then we have a group of black dudes, not on a TV screen, but right here and now, jacking your car. we set up their economic situation, which i think could be described as "sub-proletariat" or even "poverty"

and now we see quite a different economic force: shrewdness and creativity (pimping the system) in lieu of social privilege. clearly, dead prez aren't into assimilation as a means for surviving.

and naturally they're arrested beacuse their activities are anti-social. revolutionary in the sense of bringing down the system from the inside. this is class struggle homey.

and in the end, it's not just a dream, it's the dream of a native african who thinks, "that's crazy! how could we ever be in THAT situation?"

so i ask again, how is that not political?

         

At least nobody was injured.

         

i like it

         

hjed is right-on - it's a parody video of a current trend. Nothing more.

Dickens: Robbing people, pimping and getting arrested are all rap narrative staples - by your logic 50 Cent and Lil Jon could be considered political.

And the kids in the video could not look less like rap fans. They're going to Disneyland, homey.

         

it is satire but it's not a parody. and it is more than just that.

listen to the lyrics. they're not joking about getting fake credit cards and returning the goods for cash. they're proposing economic guerilla tactics on a survival basis. not selling drugs and pimpin hos.

they're pimping the SYSTEM.

what makes this video political, cap'n, is not CONTENT but CONTEXT. the opening and closing parts of the video properly orient the viewer so that we know this is polemical.

and of course those kids are rap fans. blonde suburban kids vacationing at disney world with their square parents are the MODEL for rap fans. of the 50 cent and Lil Jon variety. they just don't know what it means....

         

DICKENSIAN: Thank god you appeared. You're the first person I've seen on this site in a long time with a strong opinion. It's refreshing to see someone take a stance and defend it properly.

I wish they would play this promo on MTV. Crash right into TRL with this one.
A+ 1000.

...and also, forget about sony paying for the video, it was a huge mutherfuckin surprise that such a conservative label signed them in the first place.

         

GREAT VIDEO!!! seriosly! check out their video "Hip Hop"

thanks for that post!

         

I'd love to see the reactions from people on here if the roles were reversed and a white group tried a video concept like this. Then, it would be a travesty. It sure as hell wouldn't be artistic, right Interpol? This is ACLU type hypocrisy. Free speech only for those who you support. You can't even talk to black folks or Dems these days without having it thrown back in your face about slavery, inequality and poverty. Hey G, my grandfather came here with nothing on a boat from Italy. I didn't chain your grandpops. Black racists, I'm trying to make a buck just like you. I'm white, I can't help that shiznit.

Let the art fag faux liberal comments commence...

         

Aside from all the political banter, I think it's a well made video. Very smooth with the camera motion and the edits.
The ending is what really sells it, which is great. It really changes your perception of the whole thing. But really...that's just stating the obvious, huh?

         

It's great to have a discussion on this site that isn't just about video technique.

Oh and hymenroth - was your grandfather chained up when he arrived here? Just art fag faux liberal curiosity.

         

Isn't there a movie that came out a couple years ago that supposedly has the exact same concept (get camera from a jack, then use it for the story like blair witch)? I'm not sure but I always wanted to see that movie. Supposedly it's pretty raw too, but I don't even remember the name haha.

         

is funny games the movie you mean?

i'm not sure about the video, but i am glad to see that lusk has a new friend.

         

"You can't even talk to black folks or Dems these days without having it thrown back in your face about slavery, inequality and poverty. Hey G, my grandfather came here with nothing on a boat from Italy. I didn't chain your grandpops. Black racists, I'm trying to make a buck just like you. I'm white, I can't help that shiznit. "

what the fuck is that, it sounds like it came from the pizza guy in "Do the Right Thing", I dont know about you but I talk to 'black folks' ??? all the time nothing gets thrown in my face, maybe thats becuase Im not a fucking idiot, at least when you granpa came he could vote.

Complaining about 'reverse racism" is the most rediculous thing I can imagine.

         

vijay, yeah, i rented that movie...it's called "Street Tapes".....or something like that. I'd heard all this talk about how gritty and raw it was, but it was just awful. Every other word was 'motherfucker' and 'bitch' and it just reinforced black stereotypes. I couldn't get through it. This video is a direct ripoff, but it's much better.