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I’m not a fan of trap music per se, but I found this song and its video in particular to have a rather Debordian-esque feel to it, in the sense that it presents the spectacle of modern times in an otherwise pessimistic and nihilistic light.
The video begins by introducing us to the fascination of the “circus”: all the energy, eager crowds, bells, and whistles. We are introduced to the ringmaster, who proceeds to hype up the performer, who is dressed as a clown and in chains. The ringmaster escorts him via his chains to the center stage where he puppets the performer to act like a buffoon in front of a crowd made up primarily of white kids of the suburban variety. The ringmaster (an obvious allegory for porky) is seen pulling surplus value out of the performer’s pockets as he continues to mindlessly dance for the crowd; during this act of exploitation, the performer sings the lines, “Why you wanna take *my soul*? I’m yelling out ‘hell no!’,” in an agonizing manner, an allusion to the ways by which capital pierces our very existence and robs us of our dignity via the commodity-form.
Here lies the social relation mediated by images. As he is a commodity, the performer/clown must continue to disgracefully perform for the zombie-like audience - creating “clout” via the crypto-hypnosis of the spectacle- and generate money for his capitalist overlord. Within this circus, we also find the audience participating in the trends of the contemporary era: getting face tattoos, sipping codeine from styrofoam cups, and taking Alprazolam (“xannies”) on top of processed meats.
The climax of the video occurs when the performer, as part of his act, goes on Instagram Live and flexes with a gun to entice all of the faceless online followers. To this, the audience laughs hysterically at him and his act of idiocy. The dialectic then ruptures: he becomes fully conscious of his degraded position. Out of humiliation, he makes one final stand by staring down the crowd and - pointing the gun to his head - shoots himself without remorse. Was this out of sheer nihilism, an assertion of autonomy, or both? It is impossible to tell. But to this, the audience watches in awe, coming to the realization that this unrealism of real society has masked its true, harsh nature.
As is the case with Brecht’s epic theatre, the viewers of this video do not empathize with the performer/clown as an individual martyr, but are taken aback by the circumstances in which he is trapped. It is a dark representation of the culture industry and how it both pacifies audiences and demands its performers (sold as commodities) create mythologies (again, “clout”) around themselves for the sake of profits. 100% epic and materialist, definitely /ourvideo/.
Addendum: I apologize ahead of time for the song’s woman-hating lyrics.
