The New Jersey rap-punk duo, Ho99o9, has just released a new video for their song “War Is Hell.” The experimental horror, genre-bending group continues to shock and make waves with their new video.
It’s tough to describe the video without watching it. It is hard to put into words the chaos and emotion that is thrown at the viewer so effectively. That overwhelming feeling is exactly what theOGM and Eaddy, the punk duo, want their viewers to feel. The video is a montage style collection of found footage and created footage mashed together to communicate an overall message of confrontation and horror. It’s filled with anarchy, riots, crime, horror, racism and the burning of the American flag. The video is not supposed to be easy to watch, but worth trying to understand. “Highlighting the brutality in AmeriKKKa 2017, can’t forget being hung by a tree, can’t forget using a different bathroom because the color of your skin,” Ho99o9 said in a statement about the video. “Sensitive topic to some, reality us.”
The song “War Is Hell” is part of their debut studio album, United States of Horror. The album’s cover art is a great representation of what to expect in their music. It’s an image of Christ’s crucified body hanging from a knife; Jesus’s head has been replaced with that of a crying baby. To the upper left, there’s an image of a peace sign interlocked with an anarchist symbol.
TheOGM and Eaddy both grew up in New Jersey and started the group in 2012. Strongly influenced by rappers DMX and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, they began attending underground punk shows in their teens. Drawing from a wide variety of artists and genres, they even cite horror director Rob Zombie as a huge influence on their band. Their cinematic influence is something widely noted by critics and something that is very present in their new video.
Their music is about their experiences. Their first studio album is what they consider “a life album.” It’s a mirror of what they experience in a country that preaches unity. The video is a tough watch, but one worth watching and talking about.
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