LL COOL J - Murdergram Deux ft. Eminem

JUL 01 2024 · 12:00

LL COOL J - Murdergram Deux ft. Eminem (2024) Director: JakeTheShooter (Jake McKenna) Era: Hip-Hop Nostalgia Renaissance (2024) - Legacy rap artists reclaiming cultural authority via backward-looking visual iconography, coinciding with a surge of veteran MC comeback albums in the mid-2020s streaming era Exceptionally high. This video is a primary document of the 2024 hip-hop legacy renaissance, functioning simultaneously as a new work and a curated retrospective of hip-hop's visual history spanning 1987–1996. Its deliberate reconstruction of canonical imagery makes it an invaluable cross-reference artifact for any archive concerned with hip-hop's visual genealogy. The confluence of a first-ever LL Cool J/Eminem collaboration, Detroit location production, Q-Tip production, and MTV VMA release timing elevates its historical significance beyond the typical promotional music video. Context: Released on September 11, 2024, the same night LL Cool J performed at the MTV VMAs, 'Murdergram Deux' represents a historically significant moment: the first-ever official studio collaboration between LL Cool J and Eminem, two of hip-hop's most decorated MCs across different generational waves. The video explicitly functions as a love letter to hip-hop's visual canon, reconstructing landmark imagery from 1987–1996. Filmed in Eminem's hometown of Detroit, the video bridges Queens/New York foundational hip-hop culture with Detroit's rap legacy. The track appears as the fourth single from LL Cool J's fourteenth studio album 'The FORCE' (2024), his first album since 2013, produced by Q-Tip with additional production from Eminem, and serves as a sequel to 'Murdergram' from the 1990 album 'Mama Said Knock You Out.' Director notes: Filmed in Detroit in late August 2024; premiered September 11, 2024, coinciding with LL Cool J's performance at the MTV VMAs. Produced under ShooterCo with Director of Photography Sam Brave and producers Kai Yuricich, Remi Williams, and Yolande Geralds. The video is structured around theatrical recreations of landmark hip-hop visual artifacts: LL Cool J's 1987 'Bigger and Deffer' (BAD) album cover, the fishbowl scene from the 'Going Back to Cali' music video, Big Daddy Kane's 'Long Live the Kane' album cover, and the 1996 Vibe 'Live from Death Row' cover. Graffiti by Shirt King Phade is also featured. Eminem's segment includes a reference to Mom's Spaghetti/Lose Yourself.