The Roots Take on Church and Commerce in Surreal ‘Understand’ Clip
With …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin due out on Monday, the Roots are hailing the arrival of their 11th studio album with the release of a trippy new video for the track “Understand.” Using stunning stop-motion animation from Joe Baughman, the clip combines imagery of church and commerce to illustrate the theme of Dice Raw’s refrain: “People ask for God / ’til the day He come / see God’s face, turn around and run / God sees the face/ of a man / shakes his head and says ‘Man’ll never understand.”
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The video opens on a votive-strewn organ with invisible hands playing the track’s churchy chords. Machines cut wood to manufacture a casket that fills with money, Ben Franklin races around on a silver offering plate and police lights flash behind stained glass.
Joe Baughman also created the stop-motion visuals for the “When the People Cheer” video, and the Roots website Okayplayer describes the “Understand” clip as “Part 2 the Existentialist Boogaloo” to the earlier release.
In other Roots news, drummer Questlove is executive producing a new music series for VH1 called Soundclash, premiering on July 23rd. Hosted by DJ-producer Diplo, the show will feature three artists performing simultaneously on a single stage. The Roots are also set to perform at their annual Roots Picnic on May 31st.