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Ultra_eko and Darealmrlee merge a hip- hop concept album with the visuals of a feature film, resulting in a work of spectacular originality.
Legends of the Underside presents a welcome introduction to the English experience in a film’s immersive, tripped-out fever dream. Various styles are taken –from animation, puppetry, live action, black and white, full-fledged color, and everything in between. The humor here is notable, for it embraces the absurdity of life. Ultra_eko and DaRealMrLee do an exceptional job of really fleshing out the world. Certain moments feel somewhat normal, down to the references to Brighton and Camber Sands, and there’s the other side of the coin.
Aspects of it at times tap into the complete and utterly bizarre – as parts go for a style reminiscent of Little Britain, all the way down to some of the prosthetics and general off-kilter delivery. For the exploration of the meaning of life, life’s purpose, and the paradoxical philosophy that takes place, they bring in a bit of Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared, levels of sheer mind-melting complexity. Best of all, they make the concept album meet the film idea feel effortless, and it flows beautifully, too.
Of course, this is simply the video itself. It doesn’t even begin to capture the sheer skill of the vocals of the music. They indulge in a vast slew of different approaches to rap. Like Tchaikovsky, each character has a general theme. While the overall spirit is pure hip-hop, they approach it from different angles. For the Chilean penguin, it is almost a Balearic attitude, sun-drenched and splendid. Right on the flip side is the general crankiness of the grandfather’s slang and the psychotic leanings of the outsider artist. They pit these characters with and against each other, dependent on the moment, and the results are surprisingly insightful, even genuinely emotionally moving. Humor helps to lighten some of the heavier moments, much like Run the Jewels’ RTJ4, where a moment of pure despair immediately gets turned on its head in just a few seconds.
References abound. Besides the keenly English-based ones, they mention what appear to be one-off jokes. This fits in with the ridiculousness of Simon Pegg’s Three Flavours Cornetto, as the number of sweets mentioned is impressive. A generational conflict, an interspecies brawl, and the repetition of a dog on the head of the grandfather add to the personal story each one of the characters possesses. Of course, the rappers’ flow on these is stellar, and how they make all these random bits make sense is a real testament to their storytelling abilities.
Done with the most outstanding amount of genre-bending and blending, Legends of the Underside should be celebrated, showing the unlimited possibilities of abstract narratives when adequately translated into their visual form. It is beautiful.
Legends of the Underside is out on YouTube December 1st, with the soundtrack available across all streaming platforms on the same day.
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Written by BeachSloth
