When Chris Daly closes his eyes, he sees De La Rocha’s dreads.
Run the Jewels are a national treasure. The same duo that agreed to a Kickstarter to completely remix their sophomore album using “all cat sounds for the music” and dress in hideous Xmas sweaters in their videos, also happens to be the group that offers legitimately thoughtful advice to young girls and opines with hearts on their sleeves about the latest spate of police brutality. You wouldn’t think today’s Public Enemy could also be today’s De La Soul, but there you have it.
Maintaining their more serious demeanor, El-P and Killer Mike have released their video for “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck).” Shot in black and white, the video narrates the existential struggle between a white cop and a black man. The video starts mid-fight, and it’s never clear who, if anyone, is the victor by its conclusion. To the credit of the director, AG Rojas, and the actors, Shea Whigham and Keith Stanfiel, this is no hastily spun narrative with “Right” and “Wrong” writ XXL. At times, each is the aggressor. At times, both are clearly defeated. Rojas and the guys share their thoughts on the video far more eloquently here than I have. The answers to the situation are not simple, and neither is this video.
