Phillie hardcore group Soul Glo tackle white music heads in the punk scene, and attempts to live their lives in the new video for “Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmyass?)” from Epitaph Records.
It ain’t easy being a predominantly black & brown band in a largely white space. Most challenges come in the shape of losing retention among listeners, or having to conform to fit the taste and needs of an audience that does not respect you.
On the other side of that coin comes success, but becoming sensationalized into a martyr for other bands that share a similar identity.
White supremacy is passively blatant in the music industry on all levels, with whiteness playing heavily in music journalism. Philadelphia’s Soul Glo tackle this on a metaphysical level for “Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmyass?)”, with a video that is humorous as it is critical.
Soul Glo is no stranger to being openly political and playing up humor when it comes to racial relations. Their debut album Diaspora Problems bares it all, coverings topics such as fighting fascism, liberal protests, and the consequences of American imperialism.
When the country is on fire, and your house is on fire, and your family’s house has been on fire for multiple generations- it’s important to laugh once in a while.
Humor is essential to the band’s foundation, especially within their own group, as demonstrated by the series of shots they throw at their drummer TJ Stevenson, the only white member of the band.
Their last music video for “Jump!! (Or Get Jumped!!!)((by the future))” quite literally made this the focus. For “Gold Chain Punk (whogonbeatmyass?)”, the shift is on the group.
Each member wakes up as normal in their day-to-day lives, only to find an onslaught of “music heads” making the connection that “Bad Brains sounds so much like SOUL GLO”. Battling the antics of annoying critics through short and sweet symbolic visual elements.
Bad Brains was one of the staple punk bands in the D.C punk scene in the ’70s, and many draw comparisons between the two groups for the shared brash and open political consciousness present in their music- and one other factor I can’t put my finger on.
The members present in the video are all subjected to “pins” physically impaling them, representing fans keeping tabs on the group with a lack of importance.
The entire video is filled with these “music heads”, who are constantly harassing the group from the moment they wake up, to the aftermath of a show (which ironically none of them are at), in the form of praise.
The video demonstrates a lack of respect the band faces on a daily basis, while simultaneously growing in popularity among the same crowd that fails to see their humanity.
Stream Diaspora Problems now.
