Meek Mill came out with a new clip, ‘War Stories.’ In the video, Mill hangs out at a restaurant, plays chess, and buys noodles with Lil Uzi Vert. At first glance, Meek Mill’s new piece appears as a video series of the rapper’s life. However, there are lots of exciting details.
Cinematic References
The clip seems to reference the aesthetic of Mafia and Noir movies. Meek Mill and other people in the video hang out at a nice, though not fancy, restaurant (‘Goodfellas’) and play chess (‘The Thomas Crown Affair).
At the same time, one can see French New Wave influence. Camera moves and cuts are unstable and made to appear random. One can see a similar camera approach in Bobby Shmurda’s work. There is also a documentarist feeling to the video.
Sometimes, Noir and French New Wave esthetic cross. For example, while Mike Mill is rapping at the restaurant, the camera focus gets blurry. Shots of a chess game are fragmented (especially compared to long takes of Meek Mill in the restaurant).
Music and Talking
The lyrics, however, are more focused on one subject. Meek Mill talks about life and what he had to go through to get where he is. However, the track is not lacking in experiments. While Meek Mill’s stories are tragic and horrifying, the song’s beat makes them come off more casual.
Periodically, the video breaks for different short talking scenes. One can see Meek having conversations in the studio and sharing noodle recipes. In contrast to the video itself, the quick takes are optimistic. The distinction is underlined by the beat dropping out every time the dialogue is about to start.
The video ends with Meek Mill sharing a noodles recipes. Then in the last second, Lil Uzi appears out of nowhere. Is it a sign of an upcoming collaboration? We will see.
Four weeks ago, Meek Mill and Lil Uzi already partnered on a project. You can read about it here.
