Indie rock band alt-J debut their video for “Deadcrush” featuring Danny Brown (Alchemist x Trooko version). The 90s videogame-inspired piece features Danny Brown and was directed by 2018 Sundance Film Festival Animated Short Film Jury Prize Winner Jeron Braxton. The video continues the technologic aesthetic that follows the Pusha T and Twin Shadow combo for “In Cold Blood.” Both tracks appear on alt-J’s forthcoming album REDUXER.
“After listening to the Deadcrush remix I wanted to create something that complemented the dark tones of the song,” explains Braxton. “Visually the video tells the story of how the CIA introduced old guns and cocaine into the black community in order to raise funds for the Nicaraguan contras. The introduction of weapons and cocaine in the black community gave power to the War-on-Drugs and the amount of Black men incarcerated creating this violent cycle of destruction that plagues the black community today. The blue flames represent the violent cycles of destruction. The demons creating the fire symbolize how drug addiction and gun violence are like demons that posses its victims to keep the cycle going. Slavery never really ended but just evolved into mass incarceration.”
REDUXER is a set of 11 reinterpretations of songs from alt-J’s third album RELAXER, reimagined by a wide variety of hip hop artists and producers. The album will be available on September 28 on Canvasback/Atlantic.
Watch “Deadcrush” featuring Danny Brown above!
Follow
