In a cross between a short film and a music video, Erica Eng and Supa Good D Smoke ingeniously depict a graphic fight scene that takes place in the heart of South Central. They employ visuals of a community enthralled by the commotion, paired with lyrically insightful narration in order to humanize the often misunderstood black alpha male.
The video begins with beautiful LA scenery of palm trees, blue skies, and kids playing outside. Without warning, tensions erupt between Fat Ron and Glendon Chatman, the now-adult actor who played the younger version of Omar Epps in Love and Basketball. Amidst the escalating tempers, D Smoke attempts to arrange a “fair” fight, but only gets sucker punched in the process. As the brawl escalates and the crowd stands by cheering and recording, Smoke lyrically reflects on friends he lost to similar hood battles that were all too common growing up in Inglewood. Despite his consciousness and experience with these hood squabbles, he is still unable to prevent the inevitable. Following the drama that ensued during the second verse, Jackie Gouche, a renowned Gospel artist and writer, sings to qualm those left devastated by the chaos:
“Sometimes we might go astray,
but we’ve come all the way
‘Cuz we’re fighters
And in time, we will find our way
with nothing left to say
‘Cuz we’re fighters, yeah.”
As she sings these lyrics, actress Shavonne Farris consoles a grieving woman. Despite her attempts, the woman is left heartbroken and confused. The song and video end with a beautiful yet dramatic vocal arrangement sung by Davion Farris that embodies the heart of a young fighter. The lyrics create a sense of homage and respect to those who stand up against opposition and fight for what they believe in. During the reprise Davion sings, “When the world is up against you, you can run away, or you can reign like a fighter.” As these lyrics resonate in beautiful harmonies, close up shots of D Smoke dramatically interchange and the video ultimately ends where it began, with blue California skies and palm trees.
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Davion sings, “When the world is up against you, you can run away, or you can reign like a fighter.” As these lyrics resonate in beautiful harmonies, close up shots of D Smoke dramatically interchange and the video ultimately ends where it began, with blue California skies and palm trees.
