Kanye and Jay-Z still have everyone watching the throne almost a year after the release of their collaborative Watch the Throne album. On Tuesday night the Romain Gavras directed “No Church in the Wild” video was released online sans an appearance from Kanye or Jay. One word that instantly comes to mind: revolution. Amidst slews of global uprisings the two biggest rap stars in the world create a visual for Prague citizens challenging authority. The video starts with one man setting a Molotov cocktail ablaze and tossing it at police, which inevitably incites a brawl.
Armed police officers in riot gear trollop on horses beating protestors with billy clubs. Throughout the video there’s a battle of power between the two groups. When alone with police the protestors appear helpless against the attacks, but as a collective they fight back against the brutality. A police car is set on fire and pushed into the plastic barricade separating authority vs. non-authority. Eventually the opposing forces square off in setting with bright neon green lights with no real resolution.
Left open to interpretation, viewers can choose any uprising they’ve seen on MSNBC to parallel the video with, whether Occupy Wall Street or the 2011 London protests. Although the song isn’t necessarily about revolting, the visual The Throne and Gavras created for the single somehow fits. And the rappers absence was a necessary one if any message (perhaps there isn’t one) was to be taken away at all. Besides, we’ve heard enough about rich the two are. Showing us something other than a Maybach was well played.
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