In his interview, El-P claimed that he doesn’t want to be a “white guy rapping” at 45. The video for “Time Won’t Tell” illustrates why if he decides to abandon microphones for the movies, he’ll have no problem getting art-house work. El Producto already did the score for Bomb the System, but it’s inevitable that Jim Jarmusch will try to get his digits too. Strip the above video of the ominous synths and martial drums and it’s nothing more than a kid dragging a mattress past graffiti-pocked buildings and urban decay. With it, you expect impending chaos.
The action follows four kids shadowing another kid. You expect them to beat him down, steal his money, give him a wedgie, a wet willie, or even the dreaded rear admiral. Instead, they frolic like Bart and Milhouse on an all-syrup Squishee Bender. According to the press kit, it’s inspired by a childhood memory of director Shan Nicholson, who grew up in the ‘Old New York’ during a time when necessity often bred creativity…It depicts a young boy innocently finding a way to embrace his imagination amid an urban wasteland.”
Maybe there’s a deeper metaphor here: if you steal a mattress, be sure to invite your friends to jump on it; be sure not to rip off the tags; the wife beater look is hot this summer. But I suspect El is just fucking with us. Well played. –Weiss
Download: (From Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixx 3)
MP3: El-P-”Whores: The Movie”
MP3: El-P-”Meanstreak (in Three Parts)” (Left-Click)
MP3: El-P-“Love Theme” from Bomb the System
