Dee-1, the clean-living New Orleans rapper has rounded up a posse of bar murderers in the remix to his solid 2014 track, Against Us.
He is joined for this excellent collaboration by Big K.R.I.T and Lupe Fiasco, with the three of them meshing incredibly well together on what is at it’s core an incredibly positive track.
The video’s frantic energy – which is reinforced by the graffiti laden building as well as the occasionally spliced in graphic of the lyrics – creates an upbeat tempo for the overall flow of the track, while simultaneously allowing the positivity of the rhymes to springboard off that same vibe.
Dee-1 manages to set the tone with his opening verse proclaiming a kind of unbridled positivity which he credits to God and Christianity. In fact, the track is comparatively heavy with religious imagery which is all too common in Dee-1’s songs. The chorus itself is essentially a very slightly reworked version of the Lord’s Prayer. Like with a lot of his tracks, his consistent references to faith and God rarely become too on the nose, and his lyrical capabilities make the integration of those references almost seamless and barely the highlight.
Big K.R.I.T quickly barges into verse two allowing his unique brand of soulful flow to shed some light on the human condition, while attempting to steer the listener onto a better path, challenging them to, “do more than just tweet.”
Finally, the track is capped off by the ever illusive Lupe Fiasco, who lends his complex rhyming style to reinforce the messages of the other two artists. He also proclaims that he is attempting to stop the next generation from facing the same struggles that he grew up with, while also name dropping DROGAS.
Overall the track is a surprising hit, with the trio never faltering in their delivery of a positive message which is accompanied by a slick music video.
Image: offbeat