Nas collapses history and culture in the jarring new video for War Against Love, a track off his new rarities compilation, The Lost Tapes 2.
Directed by Jason Goldwatch, the clip is a compelling visual collage that features Nas performing the track amidst an array of juxtapositions, such as side-by-side videos of mushroom clouds and blooming flowers, and a photo of Olympic track star Wilma Rudolph crossing the finish line next to a Civil Rights-era snapshot of police chasing two black teenagers (the same one famously used on the cover of the Roots Things Fall Apart). The video also features some stranger choices, like an illustration of Stevie Wonder next to the infamous police sketch of the unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and pictures of President Donald Trumpand Eddie Murphys SNL character Buckwheat both making OK signs.
With peaceful displays of humankinds achievements and natures beauty paired with difficult scenes of man-made destruction, the message is clear; it is our duty to learn from humanitys fraught history and move forward in the name of love, read a statement in the YouTube description for the War Against Love video.
Nas released The Lost Tapes 2 in July via Mass Appeal and Def Jam. The album arrived 17 years after the highly acclaimed first installment, which collected unreleased tracks from Nas 1999 album I Amand 2001sStillmatic. The new record boasts songs made during the sessionsfor 2006sHip-Hop is Dead, 2008sUntitled, 2012sLife Is Goodand 2018sNasir.