My family is a "house" divided over the admittedly disturbing, if stunning, "On to the Next One" video. The clip is either an art critic's dream or a satanic ritual in black-and-white.
The diamond encrusted skulls in Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz's collabo clip took me, of course, to Damien Hirst's decadent (macabre?) platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with flawless diamonds.
A writer for The L, adroitly made the added reference to drip painters like Pollock.
But where abstract art lovers see iconography, others see allusions to masonic blood/wine oaths, the evidence of which was first supported by a handful of YouTube video postings gone quickly viral.
It's clearly possible Jay either subscribes or has had serious exposure to teachings/literature/connections related to such, I just am scratching my head at why he would out his "secret society" leanings in a series of music videos to be seen and deconstructed by millions. Hiding in plain sight as a strategy? Build an empire and then set it aflame with populist backlash?
But if he's indeed made vids like "Run This Town" a public declaration, do we have a religious litmus test for rappers?
Regardless of Hov's (anti)theistic proclivities, the Follow the Follower mentality is what irked me initially. Certainly, one should question the ideas that offend. But reading these bastardized 4th-hand interpretations of what Pookie at the corner store said about Jay is just excruciating.
Suddenly, everyone is an expert in semiotics. The information age indeed.
(My as-yet-unconfirmed directing credit goes to artist Sam Brown.)
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1 comment:
I watched the video. Artistically stunning. Speaking personally, my experiences with masonry have been devoid of any "blood or wine offerings". I think people want to make more out of it than what is. Its not the organizational title that garners security (masonic, hermetic, rosucicurian etc), more so the activities and knowledge contained therein. I would be interested to see how Jay-Z would answer the direct question posing "Are you a mason"?
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