The Strangest Video in the History of (Mainstream) Hip-Hop?
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:43 am
Rakim - Guess Who's Back (1997)
EDIT: I had written "move the crowd" for the video instead of "guess whos back". Apologies. I corrected it above. 2am posting will do that to you sometimes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxLzGvDKN_U
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Only Rakim could make this hot. I can up on it youtubing yesterday and not having seen it for years. I watched it three times laughing at how horribly awesome and odd it is.
Allow me to count the ways:
-Rakim falling through a time/space portal on the way to the stage
-Rakim barefoot in a orange hooded robe
-oddly distracting water drain that seems to be the costar of the video
-curled-hoofed Satyr/Satan
-said Satyr/Satan making rambling speech about wanting Rakim to help
him "move the crowd"
-extras from a smashing pumpkins video, the matrix revolutions, and a sketchy
venice beach circus
-Rakim unable to resist picking up and holding a twelve inch.... mic.
-horrible special effects
-creepy Satyr/Satan shifting around behind Rakim the whole video
-two men tattooing each other (okay, not so awesome...)
-zombie goth vampires in nightgowns playing violins
-woman kissing a snake
-bald man in makeup, dress and a small snake around his neck (2:00)
-spiked land mine
-black and white adam and eve
-virgin in white being danced over and looking scared only to been seen again in a half second reaction shot at the end of the video
-Satyr/Satan eating cantaloupe (?) like hes the happiest mf on earth
-headbobbin' deer/wolf (2:33)
-dead tattooed jesus-type
-Satyr/Satan flicking his tongue linda blair style
-Rakim drawing lightning to his twleve inch.... mic and destroying (?) the crowd (no repeat business I guess) including dead tattooed jesus-type
Anyone have anything mainstream as strange (or stranger) than that?
EDIT: I had written "move the crowd" for the video instead of "guess whos back". Apologies. I corrected it above. 2am posting will do that to you sometimes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxLzGvDKN_U
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Only Rakim could make this hot. I can up on it youtubing yesterday and not having seen it for years. I watched it three times laughing at how horribly awesome and odd it is.
Allow me to count the ways:
-Rakim falling through a time/space portal on the way to the stage
-Rakim barefoot in a orange hooded robe
-oddly distracting water drain that seems to be the costar of the video
-curled-hoofed Satyr/Satan
-said Satyr/Satan making rambling speech about wanting Rakim to help
him "move the crowd"
-extras from a smashing pumpkins video, the matrix revolutions, and a sketchy
venice beach circus
-Rakim unable to resist picking up and holding a twelve inch.... mic.
-horrible special effects
-creepy Satyr/Satan shifting around behind Rakim the whole video
-two men tattooing each other (okay, not so awesome...)
-zombie goth vampires in nightgowns playing violins
-woman kissing a snake
-bald man in makeup, dress and a small snake around his neck (2:00)
-spiked land mine
-black and white adam and eve
-virgin in white being danced over and looking scared only to been seen again in a half second reaction shot at the end of the video
-Satyr/Satan eating cantaloupe (?) like hes the happiest mf on earth
-headbobbin' deer/wolf (2:33)
-dead tattooed jesus-type
-Satyr/Satan flicking his tongue linda blair style
-Rakim drawing lightning to his twleve inch.... mic and destroying (?) the crowd (no repeat business I guess) including dead tattooed jesus-type
Anyone have anything mainstream as strange (or stranger) than that?