In March, Joell Ortiz and producer Domingo released a high-powered project titled That’s Hip-Hop. The collaborative album was a return to hard drums and pure lyricism, what both men saw as the foundation of Rap. In speaking with Ambrosia For Heads, Ortiz said of the LP “Me and Domingo are both fans of probably the same thing you’re probably a fan of: that pure essence of Hip-Hop. So when he started playing music, it was music that I haven’t heard in a while. I don’t mean dated music. I just mean things that I used to love hearing—certain drums, certain instruments. It evoked emotion and made me want to just stay [in the studio with Domingo] and do more.”

Joell Ortiz Speaks About Never Dumbing Down His Sound & Standing Up For Hip-Hop (Interview)

In keeping with that theme, Ortiz and Domingo invited several hardscrabble lyricists from multiple eras to join them on That’s Hip-Hop, including Kool G Rap, M.O.P. and Chris Rivers. It was the first single, “Kill At Will,” featuring Token, and its remix with Snow Tha Product, however, that set the tone for the album.

Snow Tha Product Joins Joell Ortiz and Token In Lyrically Killing The Competition (Audio)

With ominous keys and chords that harken back to the theme song from 70s horror film Halloween, “Kill At Will” features Ortiz and Token waging full out lyrical assault on lesser MCs. Ortiz opens the song saying “Wait a fucking minute. I don’t think you know who in it to win it. I spit it definitive. Ripping every lyric they spittin’, ridiculous. Listen, the kid is very gifted, like St. Nicholas on the 25th.” And, that’s before the beat drops. Similarly, Token closes with “Hell naw, you ain’t hear it. I’m the epitome, the peak, the apex, the pinnacle of putting thought into lyrics withe every piece of grammar. You might meet Token, but you will not meet his standards.” In between the two MCs’ murderous verses is a killer sample from Big Daddy Kane’s “Set It Off,” where Kane spits “‘Cause I get ill and kill at will. Teachin a skill that’s real. You’re no frill. So just stand still and chill, as I build science I drill until my rhymes fill your head up…Don’t even get up. The teacher is teachin’, so just shut up.”

Now, Ortiz and Domingo premiere the video for “Kill At Will” with Ambrosia For Heads. Using animation, they bring to life the key elements of the song. Ortiz takes on the character of Jason from the cult classic film Friday The 13th. Sporting the killer’s trademark hockey mask, Ortiz chases down wack MCs, becoming their ultimate nightmare. For his part, Token morphs into Halloween’s masked murderer, Michael Myers, wreaking similar havoc. A 1980s version of Kane also appears in the visual, sitting in a fiery throne watching his disciples carry out his wrath. It’s a creative and ominous warning to all those who dare to bastardize the culture.