“Videojacking: Action of stealing a music video, an audiovisual work, even before the artist asked for itself, ordered, undertook, realized, and even thought about it.”
Ni**as in Paris is a track off their collaboration album Watch the Throne courtesy of the current kings of Hip Hop; Kanye West and Jay Z. It’s a pretty great track as far as commercial hip hop goes, and some people did their own take on a video. An unknown trio of graffiti artists went crazy on the streets and below ground Paris tagging the lyrics of the song in a stark, visceral black and white video that is timed perfectly to the track, and gives new meaning to the lyric; “Got my Ni**as in paris, and they going gorillas“.
And if you thought a couple of kids tagging the streets and subways of Paris was subversive, check this next video out. Mos Def covers it with his trademark social thought provoking commentary. Renaming the track “N**gas in Poorest”, he absolutely nails it with lyrics that harkens back to the day when hip hop was street poetry that made you think. It’s a riveting track that closes with the plea to kings and queens “don’t get caught up in no throne”, perhaps a gentle jab at Kanye and the Jiggaman, but more importantly at greed, power and corruption in general.
You may also want to check out:
Ice Cube’s It Was A Good Day Gets Decoded
Turf Feinz Runs Dem Corners
The Art of the Remix
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