Videos

Open Mike Eagle Fights Gentrification As A Superhero In “Brick Body Complex” Video

blame it on Patrick Glynn August 24, 2017

Open Mike Eagle is releasing an album called Brick Body Kids Still Daydream next month. The album “is a searingly political record for systolic political times,” the project’s Bandcamp page says. “It chronicles the life cycle of the Robert Taylor Homes, a housing project on the South side of Chicago that was demolished completely ten years ago.” It’s where Mike grew up, and it was torn down — in part — due to gentrification.

So for his new song, “Brick Body Complex,” Mike Eagle is out to fight said conforming lifestyle. “I’m from a line of ghetto superheros,” he raps on the song, following suit in the video while taking on the persona of Iron Hood — a superhero who sabotages the construction of a new building and takes lattes from the hands of white women and throws them on the ground.

It’s become routine for Mike to match his distinct telling of what society in America is like with some lighthearted, dark humor. The “Brick Body Complex” video is Mike at his best.

Watch the video, directed by Nikki Born, below. Pre-order Brick Body Kids Still Daydream on Bandcamp.