Open Mike Eagle & DOOM Make A Powerful Video About How We Imprison Ourselves

Open Mike Eagle and Baron Vaughn began a new Comedy Central series last week that focuses on social commentary. Titled The New Negroes, every episode ends with an original song and video created by the Chicago, Illinois-born MC and features one other artist.

Ahead of tonight’s showing of the episode and video on the comedy network, Open Mike released the song and video for “Police Myself.” Featuring MF DOOM, the visual follows Mike in a day-in-the-life-of format while a tiny cop in his head takes over his decision-making process and informs him of how he should act to defend himself from today’s societal issues of racial profiling, which often leads to police violence and subsequent incarceration.

MF DOOM, Your Old Droog & Mach-Hommy Body A Beat Like King Kong (Audio)

I ride clean, but I still feel like I’m filthy as sin / ‘Cause I was raised thinking Brown is the guiltiest skin,” he raps. “I got a cop in my head ’cause all the laws are inside me / Put on my turn signal ain’t nobody behind me / I buy weed with my cop, and that’s his personal hell / ‘Cause weed legal, but I still feel like I’m going to jail.” Later in the video, the cop escapes Open Mike’s head, which brings on DOOM’s verse.

Open Mike Eagle revealed his inspiration behind the video and episode that’ll accompany it. “The theme of the episode is criminality, and we made a song and video outlining the idea of ‘double consciousness’ where one has to be aware of their own internal experience but also aware of how others perceive them,” he said in a statement. “For Black Americans and other marginalized people around the world that perception can be the difference between life and death.” At the end of the video, there is a potent scene between a father and son where the father offers advice to protect the boy, but which also shackles him.

Open Mike Eagle & Sammus Collect Props, Laughs & More In A Televangelist Spoof (Video)

The New Negroes airs Fridays at 11 pm EST on Comedy Central. Last year, Mike released an EP, What Happens When I Try To Relax. A week ago, MF DOOM appeared on Your Old Droog’s new album, It Wasn’t Even Close.

#BonusBeat: Danny Brown accompanied Open Mike Eagle’s video for last week. “Unfiltered” is another very creative concept video and offers similar double entendre messages as “Police Myself.”