Don’t expect any twerking in Diplo’s newest video produced with Yellow Claw and LNY TNZ. Techno, feat. Waka Flaka Flame, actually takes a PSA aim, warning viewers against the perils of geeking on that white. The video takes a statement against the dangers of drug use, albeit created by the context of the drug use mentioned in the lyrics. Its storyline follows two drug dealers who solicit a farmer to make drugs in his barn for profit. The farmer, who’s daughter just got accepted into college, is strapped for cash and needs the extra money. The video then comes full circle when the farmer’s daughter takes the pills that were ironically manufactured in her father’s barn. She winds up in the hospital, dead, with a final shot of the heartbroken dad and a cut to the line “Drugs are not worth the risk.”
While the Techno video takes a positive step in the right direction, its anti-drug message is undoubtly lost without the context of the music video. DJ’s serve as role models to their impressionable fans, and one PSA video can be confusing when, for example, during his set at TommorowWorld Diplo asked the crowd “how many people are high right now?”
Nonetheless, kudos to this set of producers for taking some sort of stand against illicit substances. With breakout precedents like Electric Zoo’s anti-drug campaign, hopefully more drug education will continue to follow in order to ensure the safety of EDM fans everywhere. It also really helps when someone as big as Diplo openly discusses the subject matter. Check out the video now.
