Public Enemy drop animated video for 'Grid' ft Cypress Hill, George Clinton

Public Enemy have dropped a gripping animated music video for ‘Grid’, their collaboration with Cypress Hill and George Clinton.

Public Enemy have released a new animated music video for their collaboration with Cypress Hill and George Clinton, ‘Grid’. The track comes from their most recent album, What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?, released in September.

As the track and the album title suggest, Public Enemy reimagine what the world would be like if everything went ‘off the grid’ in the song: “No internet, no text and no tweets. Will look like the 80s with fiends in the street.” goes the song. “Aww snap, no apps, just maybe perhaps. No grid is what we need for human contact.”

The song grapples with the sudden loss of connectivity that we’re beholden to (hey, we’ve all cursed out 10 different things when the wifi is down). It doesn’t, however, fail to poke fun at itself. In one verse, for example, is a clever jab at boomers using dependency on mobile phones to mock millennials.

Ironically, the video comes rife with contemporary pop culture references, veering just into meta territory. During B-Real’s verse, we see a nod to the infamous conspiracy meme from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The last scene, similarly, will remind people of Scooby-Doo — Public Enemy, Cypress Hill and George Clinton take a KKK-hood off a ghost to reveal Donald Trump.

What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? is the follow-up to Public Enemy’s April album, Loud Is Not Enough. That, by the way, came with its own drama. In the early months of 2020, Chuck D and Flavor Flav had a public falling out over Chuck’s support of Bernie Sanders.

After Public Enemy Radio performed at a Sanders rally, Chuck announced that Flav had been removed from the group. After the release of their album, however, he claimed it was an April Fools’ Prank. What a rollercoaster ride.