Open Mike Eagle is back at it again with another scaldingly satirical video from his and Baron Vaughn’s Comedy Central sketch show, The New Negroes. This week’s topic is the materialism that seems inherent to hip-hop and the very real hunger that drives it. Along with guest rapper Method Man, Mike addresses how growing up in a food desert can make rappers hungry for the finer things in life, joking that he can always eat his flatscreen TV and drink expensive cologne.
The video, directed by Lance Bangs, plays out over the course of an opulent dinner party with Mike, Meth, and rising star comedian Quinta Brunson as the table is set with a model laden in luxury goods that the guests devour instead of paté and caviar. The juxtaposition of the “high-class” gold watches and chains with the lyrics about growing up poor and starving is the source of the comedy as well as a sharp rebuke of the policies that generate such circumstances. As the top one percent engorge themselves on items that provide no sustenance, the rest of the country scraps for black beans and rice — and in Mike’s world that just ain’t right, like eating pearls and Rolexes.
The New Negroes has yet to miss with its critical commentary, which happens to be both incisive and hilarious at the same time. Previous entries from the show’s growing catalog of smart, cheeky rap videos include “Extra Consent,” “Lit,” and “Woke As Me.”
