Passalacqua and Flint Eastwood – “POWER” (video)

On paper, a socially conscious, groove-laden hip-hop group may not be the most natural bedfellow for an act indebted to spaghetti Western motifs. In the melting pot of Detroit, though, such a blending of genres is a welcome experiment, manifesting in the music video for “POWER” by Passalacqua and Flint Eastwood.

Passalacqua, comprising Brent “Blak” Smith and Bryan “Mister” Lackner, released the video in the wee hours of Wednesday, March 19. Throughout it, Smith and Lackner trade verses, simmering unrest erupting into declarations of empowerment.

Filmed during Detroit’s Marche du Nain Rouge in March 2013, the video depicts Lackner, Smith and Flint Eastwood vocalist Jax Anderson walking through the parade of costumed revelers, creating a scene of surrealism and solidarity.

The track was produced by Anderson’s brother, Seth Anderson, and the video was directed by Benjamin J. Friedman. Lackner has described the video as a tease of a forthcoming EP-length collaboration between Passalacqua and Flint Eastwood, the release date of which is pending.

“’All Power to All People,’ said the young Black Panthers to protest the rich, ruling class domination of society. ‘People’ meaning human beings,” Smith said in a statement accompanying the video. “The Black Power Movement in the 1960s was much deeper than rights; revolution is much more about the human spirit. Social movements are fueled by new ideas to confront the limits of what it means to be ‘free.’ If we continue to exist inside of divisive social constructs, we will continue to regurgitate old ideas. But if we all transform ourselves to live a life of love and purpose for our children and community, well, that would be the ultimate payback.”