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For the video to his latest raw-knuckle clique anthem “Goonz”, Fat Trel collaborator Chris Bo opted to stick to a tried and tested rap-video formula: Call up 50 or 60 of his most intimate and unwelcoming friends dressed in all black, including a Young Moe refusing to goon in anything less than Armani, cut out any dancers or models, wave a gluttonous amount of guns around, and film till the local P.D. shows up for their by-now-requisite cameo.
The record doesn’t lie: MPD were there literally three seconds into DC Scorpio’s follow-up “Stone Cold Hustler pt. II” in 1988, they were there narc-ing and getting Nonchalant‘s brother’s ass out of bed at 5 a.m. in ’96, they were there last year when Wale shot the video to the obligatory nod to his home market (that ended up as a bonus track), and they damn sure weren’t going to miss out on the smaller scale, low-budget videos in between either.
Sure, the bond between the 5-0 and rap videos is notably long and hallowed. But for the DIY artist, it isn’t nearly enough to just shoehorn a rent-a-cop into your treatment anymore. Today’s buzzword is organic, and D.C. hip-hop police just get it, man.
Below, a brief history of MPD cameos in D.C. rap videos:
DC Scorpio — Stone Cold Hustler pt. II (Kolossal, 1988) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbQj5kXqHaI
Nonchalant — 5′ O Clock (MCA, 1996) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQy1knJmGXg
Raks — S.C.R.E.A.M (YouTube, 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc8_D4IN200
Chugaloo Roc — Wreckless in the Section (YouTube, 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uJdwF2NLjQ
Koolest Kat Bobbe Dreke — Ode to Doe (YouTube, 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzn9GKdzSqI
Wale — Bait (Warner/MMG, 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQ_sCGYpwI