village voice

Village Voice – #2 Video Of The Year

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2. Prodigy: “Mac 10 Handle.” I already wrote a post about this one, but it’s worth noting that the grimy, paranoid desolation of this video does its job completely. Right now, I’m way more amped about Return of the Mac than I ever was about Blood Money (this doesn’t hurt, either), and I’ll buy a copy as soon as it comes out, if it ever does. Everyone involved in the making of this video must’ve known that it would never, ever get played on TV, and that sort of viral internet-marketing savvy can’t be taught. There’s a story here, but we only get a quick little glimpse of it. The mystery and darkness that’ve been missing from mainstream rap videos for a few years now come roaring back when Prodigy stabs his chair and it bleeds. (This is the second video in a row with a shot of someone wearing a George W. Bush mask; maybe that shot is a nod to “Get Ya Hustle On”?)

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Village Voice Praises
Mac 10 Handle video

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As the “Mac 10 Handle” video opens, Prodigy is coated in sweat, slumped on a floor, chugging tequila from a bottle. A second later, he’s seen silhouetted in a flophouse window, waving a machete. When he mutters something about watching Hard Boiled, images from John Woo’s best movie flicker on the screen. The film stock is harsh and grainy, bathed in a hazy glow, speeding up and slowing down and chopping around frantically while Prodigy’s eyes dart around his nasty apartment, around the makeshift ashtrays in old pizza boxes. We’re a long way from the mansions of the “Have a Party” video. Later, we see Prodigy in a nightclub surrounded by people in Halloween costumes. A girl in a vampire costume flashes her fangs. Some guy in a Michael Myers mask stands motionless against a wall. Prodigy’s not wearing a costume, and he’s staring backwards over his shoulder. And then he’s back in that apartment, hallucinating dudes in rubber demon masks suddenly appearing next to him. Snakes crawl around. Prodigy stabs a mirror, then a chair. And when he stabs the chair, blood comes out, so he keeps stabbing. An evil laugh bubbles up from the track. The whole thing is just fantastically dark and evil, a bloody fever dream from someone buried so deep in his own thoughts that he’s stopped looking for a way out.
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Prodigy – Mac 10 Handle

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This video “started it all” I guess….Low budget as hell…
We shot this on Halloween, and the weird party b roll is from the legendary 3rd Ward Party which got raided by the cops moments after we left.
This was shot on the HVX200 and a Pro35 Adapter with Prime lenses. Right about the time 35mm adapters became available…
Winner of viral video of the decade from Complex Magazine.
Video of the year from The Village Voice.