The LOX Featuring DMX & Lil' Kim - Money, Power & Respect
This week is all about breaking free of contracts, what with Kesha being stuck in her contract with Dr. Luke and Sony Music; I've decided to do a Music Special called #FreeKesha And Other Stories. My main problem is that, besides JoJo, there isn't any other stories; other than artists applying for bankruptcy and therefore renegotiating contracts, or filing lawsuits to former and current labels over money that is owed to them. Many artists haven't sued due to the cost, and so are stuck in their contracts, which asks them to release albums through the record label, which shelves their albums for unknown reasons. It took a lot of research to come across The LOX, they wanted out of Bad Boy Records, founded by Sean Combs (Puff Daddy/Puffy/Diddy/P. Diddy). They tried to be legally released from their contract, but it wasn't until they created t-shirts and a wave of fans to show their support, that Bad Boy Records finally released them from the contract. This was the sort of route they wanted to go down, but Bad Boy Records had different ideas. This music video may have been done in the 90's, but it works; it's current, even now, and it's true, not only to itself, but to the artists involved.
The LOX are a three piece hip-hop group consisting of Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch. After finally parting ways with Bad Boy Records, they broke apart and worked on solo albums. Each member has practically made a name for themselves in the music industry, and it wasn't until 2012, that they started releasing music together again. Could The LOX make a worldwide comeback sometime soon? It's quite the question, as soloists they've made it to an extent. Together, they could become bigger, if they put the time and effort into this group, especially if a song like this one is promoted and marketed right. This song features DMX, real name Earl Simmons, who has had a top ten hit in the UK, his stage name is recognisable, and one that hasn't been heard of for a few years, will he be on top of his game once again? We'll have to wait and see. As for Lil' Kim, she is completely unrecognisable to me in this music video. I'm surprised how gorgeous she looks in this video. Real name Kimberly Jones, has had worldwide success too, she is one of those stars who could easily make the perfect comeback, much like Missy Elliott has. This single was written by Jadakiss, Sheek Louch and Styles P.
The song is the group's biggest hit. The accompanying music video is both narrative and performance based, centring around the latter more than the former.
I love the start with the kid throwing the newspapers. Lil' Kim outshines The LOX and DMX on the performance sides of things. However these rappers are doing the best they can with what they've been given.
The narrative is short, and practically shows what we're used to seeing. However it's more relatable than we can imagine. They manage to steal money from high profiled people and spread it out to the people who clearly need it more, after evading the police and changing the look of the car, so it's not identifiable.
The performance side of this video is on point, enough to make me feel the emotion each of the artists are getting across, they mean every word they are rapping and they believe it. It's unsurprising that this was a hit in America. The narrative scenes are too short, they're intercut with the performance scene much too often, leading a distorted video that complicates viewers to a certain extent; that said the narrative is interesting and engaging.
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