Sammi Shyne - “DEAD MON WALKING”
“DEAD MON WALKING” opens with a striking image. The camera pans slowly down the trunk of a tree before arriving at Sammi Shyne’s face. Blindfolded with his back against the trunk, he sports a bloody lip and scraped cheeks. Two men clad in black stand out of focus in the background as the lyrics begin. Regardless of the increasingly dire nature of the scenes, Shyne mouths every word. His gaze—once the blindfold is ripped off by one of the men—is piercing.
In the video’s subsequent scene, he lies on the pavement with his wrists bound by a rope above his head. The rope is pulled taut above him, signifying that someone out of frame is in control. Nonetheless, Shyne emanates energy and command of the situation despite his compromised state. His direct eye contact with the camera and enunciation of each lyric help to create a persona of authority, of control: “I’ve been through worse.” The music video continues to cycle through different scenes in which Sammi Shyne is at the will of others; the men in the background of the first scene make a reappearance, holding him at gunpoint as he digs a whole in a dark forest. Each scene’s intensity acutely contrasts the artist’s very demeanor, which is one of confidence and even carelessness. Even as the two men drag him backward by the elbows, his focus remains on the audience—he doesn’t miss a beat. The brisk tempo exhibits his clear talent as a rapper, and the use of echo helps to emphasize certain lines.
The song reaches its climax in its final minute. Sammi Shyne bounds down a road with his wrists tied once again with rope. The camera circles him, and after panning over his back a transformation takes place. When it returns to his face, Shyne looks at his wrists in wonder only to find that the rope has vanished. With this transition, his demeanor lightens and he begins to dance. The motif of physical bondage that is carried through the entire video has been lifted, and the song gains a renewed burst of energy. But both before and after this shift, Sammi Shyne’s energy is hypnotizing, and “DEAD MON WALKING” is sure to draw you in.
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