Kanye West, Jay-Z and Romain Gavras officially changed the game when they dropped the highly anticipated “No Church in the Wild” video.
VIDEO: Jay-Z & Kanye West “No Church In The Wild”
Not only did the video encapsulate the frustrations of young people across the world, but it captured the worldwide conversation that has it a boiling point over the last two years, namely the uprisings in Egypt, the ousting of a dictator in Libya, Occupy Wall Street, the London Riots and the ongoing Greek protests.
The voice of the young people has been heard louder than ever in the last 24 months as a staggering economy, income inequality, human rights violations and corrupted governments have been front page news.
What I liked about the video was that it didn’t follow the same old script: popping bottles surrounded by flashy cars while scantily clad video vixens spread their legs across foreign vehicles in front of a trap house as money rains from the sky.
It spoke to the anger of young people, who feel that their voices are consistently falling on deaf ears while those in power are blinded by the money stuffed in their pockets by special interest groups 24/7/365.
So it’s no surprise that native Greek Gavras, a 29-year-old student of hip-hop, directed the highly intense, anarchic and gritty video.
Gavras is accustomed to this genre of political awareness in his films and videos. He directed M.I.A.’s 2010 “Born Free” video, not to mention he is the son of Costa-Gavras, the Greek filmmaker who has been making movies for over thirty years with that focus on political themes.
But the “No Church in the Wild” video perfectly illustrates that there really is no church in the wild as riot police try to control a rowdy, angry set of young people ready to take on the world.
The church is gone and the wild uninhibited nature of young people calling for justice has taken over the order in the world, which the police dressed in their riot gear is trying to restore.
We’ve seen it in Egypt, Libya, at Occupy Wall Street and the London Riots of last year as young people have ushered in a new way of airing their grievances. It isn’t grabbing a marker and making protest signs, they’re more aggressive and less patient and the video points that out.
Hip-hop is changing and Kanye and Jay are welcoming a new wave of political activism through their music and videos.
Shaka Griffith is the News/Politics Editor of GlobalGrind.com Follow him on twitter @Darealshaka
