Last week, rapper Snoop Dogg released a music video for his remix of BADBADNOTGOOD and Kaytranda’s single, “Lavender.” The video was produced directed by Jesse Wellens, better known by his YouTube name PrankvsPrank. Snoop Dogg said after the Philando Castile shooting, he was even more motivated to write music and create this video to voice his frustrations with growing political tensions. Immediately after its release, the video became a point of contention for fans, media outlets and even President Donald Trump.

The music video has many similarities to the Philando Castile case. It takes place in a clown community and focuses on one male clown, getting ready for work at his home. He does ordinary tasks, like watching his kids and eating breakfast, before leaving for work. As he leaves home, a police officer catches him smoking a joint. This quickly leads to a violent altercation between the clown and a police officer, and soon, the clown is shot multiple times by the cop. A bystander captures this moment of police brutality and the video becomes viral.

Afterwards, we see a satirical take on the current president. The music video represents Trump as an orange clown with the name “Ronald Klump.” The audience sees him holding press conferences with headlines such as “Ronald Klump wants to deport all doggs.” The portrayal of Donald Trump as a clown was a reference to Snoop Dogg’s previous controversial comments towards the President.

Wellens’ pitched this idea to the rapper because he believes all the current issues in this country are “clownery.” At the end of the video, we see Snoop Dogg point a prop gun at Ronald Klump and shoot it, resulting in a white banner coming out the barrel that says, “BANG!”

While the video carries shock value, many applauded Snoop Dogg’s bravery and honest lyrics. On the other hand, the President was not pleased and tweeted at the rapper, “Can you imagine what the outcry would be if Snoop Dogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired a gun at President Obama? Jail time!” Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle said on air that the Secret Service should “kill them” for the video because she perceived the video to be “an actual threat.”

The “Lavender” music video is scandalous, but Snoop Dogg is not the only artist in the music industry to protest the Trump administration. Gorillaz broke its six-year hiatus by dropping “Hallelujah Money” with singer Benjamin Clementine on the eve of Trump’s inauguration. Green Day released “Troubled Times” and even portrayed Donald Trump as a monster in a lyric video. During election season, author Dave Eggers created the “30 Days 30 Songs” project, which gathered popular and underground musicians from Jimmy Eat World, Death Cab for Cutie and Local Natives to write Trump protest music. One song was released each day until Election Day. After Trump was elected, Eggers decided to make the project “1000 Days 1000 Songs” and vowed to release a song every day throughout Trump’s presidential term.

Celebrities have given anti-Trump performances and speeches, including Meryl Streep and legendary rap group, A Tribe Called Quest. Saturday Night Live is known for its daring efforts mocking the President. However, President Trump will usually take to Twitter to write demeaning and borderline threatening posts to express his disapproval for these acts of protest.

The president of the United States, commonly known as the leader of the free world, Donald Trump has said that he defends the constitution, but neglects one of the most important amendments by shooting down anyone who dares to speak up against him.

Artists like Snoop Dogg and director Jesse Wellens are only practicing their constitutional rights. The President should not scold or scare people from expressing themselves. Instead, he should be protecting this sacred American value.

Christine Chung is a senior communication and rhetorical studies major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. She can be reached at chchun02@syr.edu.

Published on March 26, 2017 at 10:26 pm