p and coming Hollis, Queens native Prince Aceop charismatically showcases his ability to rock mics with his latest song “Why Hate?” off his forthcoming mixtape “Royal Society Inc. Heir to the Throne”. This bona fide club banger will have you nodding your head and moving your body to the sound of the music. With that said, here’s my $.02 on the video

The Good: The song is hot! It is centered on a fabulous hook that will get stick in your mind the minute that you listen to it. The beat is bananas and features pounding drum kicks dance with a slew of perfectly sequenced horn samples with a splash of Rhodes riffs sprinkled all about. The video is crisp; the love for fallen Hollis Hero Jam Master Jay is clearly apparent as images of murals and street signs dedicated to him cascade throughout the video.

The Bad: You know that things are headed South when the opening directorial credits have more zing than the actual video itself. Why Hate falls into the category of “Great Song/Poor Video”. You may be thinking, “Wow, how could you say something like that?” You deserve an answer and here’s why-

1. This video has no concept whatsoever. I couldn’t begin to tell you (and I don’t think the director could tell you) what this video is about. This could be corrected by developing a theme and using storyboards.
2. The song and the video have almost nothing to do with each other. The film crew and artist should have sat down and really discussed the concept of the song, then used that to develop the direction of the video.

Overall: “Why Hate” is a blazing track that will continue to garner the recognition that it truly deserves. On the other hand, the video needs to be more connected to the song, or at least presented in a way that music consumers can watch and relate to. I know I was a harsh with my review, but I rather give constructive criticism, than to stand by and watch as artists/directors become stagnant. Director Rev TV obviously has an eye for capturing great moments (the picture quality is stunning), but still has a lot to learn about meshing picture quality with story quality. Once he gets that on track he’ll be cranking out epic videos regularly. That’s my $.02. What’s yours?

Connect:   @PrinceAceop   Purevolume