The Police State Agenda in Jay-Z and Kanye’s “No Church in the Wild” and Adam Lambert’s “Never Close Our Eyes”

The Police State Agenda in Jay-Z and Kanye’s “No Church in the Wild” and Adam Lambert’s “Never Close Our Eyes”

By VC | June 13th, 2012 |

Why do music videos these days often feature police in riot gear and violent repression? Is there an attempt to normalize the concept of a police state in mass media? Two recent and blatant example of this agenda is Jay-Z and Kanye’s video “No Church in the Wild” and Adam Lambert’s “Never Close Our Eyes”. Even though these songs are different in style, their underlying message is similar and is on par with the police state agenda of the world elite. This article will look at the meaning and implications of these videos.

What does Jay-Z have in common with Adam Lambert? At first glance, nothing at all. At second glance, they’re mainstream artists part of the music industry and at some point, even though they differ in style and substance, they are expected to push the agenda of the elite. As we discussed in the articleThe Transhumanist and Police State Agenda in Pop Music, the entertainment industry is used to promote and normalize the concept of a police state in the eyes of young people. Since the publishing of that article in early 2010, many other artists have featured an oppressive police force and violent repression as part of their works. From performances in live shows to music videos, there is a conscious and constant effort to associate the cool and sexy aura of pop stars with the otherwise abhorrent sight of riot police in a free society.

Two recent examples of the perpetuation of the police state agenda in popular culture are Jay-Z and Kanye West’s music video No Church in the Wild and Adam Lambert’s Never Close our Eyes. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the fact that these songs are two different genres that aim to reach two different markets, they both contribute to the saturation of popular culture with police state imagery. While the authorities are not necessarily portrayed as the “good guys”, they are nevertheless there, as if their presence at any kind of public demonstration is normal. Let’s look at the symbolism and the underlying meaning of these two videos.

No Church in the Wild

No Church in the Wild has rather profound philosophical implications. The lyrics are of course up for interpretation, one of which is that the song is a rejection of religious dogma to embrace a more humanist (and maybe hedonistic) way of life. The title of the song itself is a figurative way of saying that religious institutions such as the Church are unnecessary human constructs that are not found in nature. That being said, the video consists of lovely footage of trees and streams … oh no, actually the video is about a bunch of dudes getting beat up by riot police. Why? What’s the relationship to the lyrics? I am not totally sure, but the video is pretty much five straight minutes of angry rioters and violent police repression. A great way to desensitize young people to the concept of police state.

The video begins with a guy lighting up a Molotov cocktail in Prague (although some shots appear to be taken in Paris, France).

In the video, the rioters do not appear to have a valid cause and they are clearly portrayed as the aggressors.

So, right away, we are right in the middle of a confrontation between police in riot gear and young rioters. There is no prior explanation and the rioters have been given no “noble cause” to defend. Even if they do, the viewer is not made aware of it, sort of how mass media relays stories of riots across the world. We’re just seeing senseless violence that is initiated by rioters.

The rioters are angry and aggressive. Without a back story describing the source of their grief, it is rather hard to identify with them.

The policemen do not take this crap for long. The young guys charge, violently, giving police an excuse to take out their shiny weapons and retaliate with even more violence.  And boy, do they bash on them.

This guy gets clubbed back to sanity.

This one gets his feet swiped off to fall on his back while other policemen apparently laugh at him.

This one gets a face full of tear gas at point blank range, a lot like student protestors at UC Davis. I am pretty sure that this is NOT the way the user manual recommends using tear gas.

All of these scenes happen in slow motion with a cool beat in the background. As Dave Chappelle once said in his legendary Chappelle Show, everything looks cool in slow motion. Even police clubbing down a young defenseless guy. Is police oppression being glamorized in an indirect way? Here’s a strange juxtaposition of images:

This guy got chased down by police cavaliers and got smacked right on the head with a nightstick.

Right after this scene, we see a shot of a statue that gives a deeper meaning to the violence shown.

Right after we see a rioter get clubbed down by a policeman, we see a shot of a statue of Theseus clubbing the Minotaur. This story from Greek mythology esoterically represents the slaying of man’s “lower animal” side in order to achieve illumination. Is the video saying that the rioting masses are the “lower animal” side of society that needs to be tamed (or slayed) by the illuminated?

The video features several other dramatic shots of sculptures found in Paris, notably a few from the Arc de Triomphe. As we’ve seen in the series of articles Sinister Sites, sculptures and monuments in major cities are often imbued with the symbolism, mythology and philosophy of the world elite and the secret societies behind it. Since these massive monuments are often commissioned and funded by members of the world elite, it is rather expected that they represent them and their views. In the context of the video, showing these stone monuments implacably overlooking the chaos that is happening on street level is a reminder that the elite is seeing what is happening and probably approves of it. After all, isn’t the Masonic motto of the world elite Ordo Ab Chao (Order Out of Chaos)?

Later in the video, day turns into night … and strobe lights, the kind we usually see in clubs and raves, appear in the riot scene.

Police in riot gear surrounded by strobe lights. They are really trying to associate police with stuff young people enjoy.

Usually when strobe lights are on, it is because something cool is happening, like music, partying or dancing. That being said, why are they around police in riot gear? Are we trying to confuse young minds with good old-fashioned cognitive dissonance? Just in case you might be confused: Being repressed by police does NOT equals a party.

At the end of the video, nobody truly wins or loses. Rioters fight back and appear triumphant while police still stand their ground. In other words, nothing has changed and status quo is preserved. An elephant makes an odd appearance in the streets of Paris, reminding the viewers that the “wild” in question is, in fact, our society, where people act like animals and the strongest one wins. In this wilderness, there is no Church, no respite from the savagery, just the stone gaze of statues overlooking the violence. These sculptures represent the puppet masters, those who pull the strings on both sides in order to advance their agenda of a more controlled and repressive society.

Never Close Our Eyes

While Adam Lambert’s song Never Close Our Eyes differs greatly from No Church in the Wild, it still exposes young people to the same kind of imagery and ends a similar way: An illusion of victory by the revolutionaries – with a special emphasis on the word “illusion”.

Never Close Our Eyes takes place in a dystopian future (in mass media, the future is ALWAYS dystopian) in a setting that is reminiscent of George Lucas’ movie THX 1138 or Michael Bay’s The Island, where Adam Lambert finds himself living in a tightly monitored community (or prison), surrounded by emotion-less and zombie-like denizens.

Never Close Our Eyes is yet another video set in a dystopian future, characterized by the omnipresence of surveillance cameras. If we are not already in this vision of the future, we’re definitely heading directly towards it.

In this giant compound, the inhabitants are constantly under surveillance, are fed and sedated with pills and have their individuality repressed through eye color removal.

Adam and his mates must enter soul-sucking machines that remove the color from people’s eyes – representing the lost of free will and individuality. Isn’t that what TVs are for?

Adam’s eye color however stays the same – meaning that he rejects the system’s indoctrination. He ultimately gets fed up and starts an uprising. A funky uprising.

Adam doesn’t feel like doing back-breaking labor anymore. So he gets up in defiance and runs away with a few other rebels.

Adam and his crew then run towards the exit in order to escape the Big Brother prison.

So up until now, one could say: “Finally, someone who stands up to this NWO crap and delivers an inspiring message”. Most critics effectively describe this video as “Adam Lambert destroying Big Brother with dance”. But does he really destroy Big Brother? Let’s look at the rest of the video and see what really happens.

A bunch of officers meet the rebels at the fence and shoot smoke at them – turning the place into a dance floor!

In No Church in the Wild, police were surrounded by strobe lights and in Never Close our Eyes, they walk around with smoke makers like those found in clubs. Wow, riot police always really bring fun everywhere they go!

After getting smoked, do Adam and his friends fight harder to tear down the fence and run away? Nope, they stay behind the fence and start dancing. Does that equal destroying Big Brother? Last time I checked: No.

After being smoked out by the police, Adam and his friends are shown dressed in colorful attire and performing super funky choreography. Take that Big Brother!

If you look closely at the dance scene, Adam’s clothes keep changing, which may hint that the whole thing is just one big illusion or hallucination. Were they drugged by the gas? Is this all happening in their heads? Is all this dancing just “smoke and mirrors” making them believe that they’re free and happy? One thing is for sure, the entire thing seems to have confused Adam and his friends because, at the end of the video, they actually run back to where they came from!

Hey gang, freedom is the other way! Why are you running back there? Why are you so happy? Why … awww screw it I give up.

To sum up the video, Adam rebels against a highly monitored system where everyone is controlled and sedated. He runs towards freedom but, when he is met with police with smoke guns, his rebellion turns into a colorful party and, when all is said and done, nothing really happens. The rebels get all happy and cheerful, dance for a while and run back to Big Brother.

We can parallel the conclusion of this video to what happens in America and the world. While the masses are increasingly getting our rights revoked, our privacy eradicated and our freedoms taken away, we do nothing about it. We are distracted with smoke and mirrors, television and cinema, escapism and denial. We celebrate a contrived and fabricated illusion of freedom, then run right back to the comfort of the elite-controlled society, allowing the elite to pursue their agenda uncontested. As Frank Zappa said: “The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”

In Conclusion

Jay-Z and Kanye West’s No Church in the Wild and Adam Lambert’s Never Close Our Eyes are two examples of a widespread and continual effort to promote police state imagery on TVs, movie screens and computer monitors across the world. Associating cool artists who are adored by millions of people with riot police not only normalizes the concept of a police state but also creates an unconscious positive association in the minds of the viewers. Meanwhile, in real life, protests across the Western world are increasingly being met with riot police. Violent repression, brutal arrests and sophisticated weaponry are being used with less and less restraint and are even becoming the norm. Peaceful protests are often purposely sabotaged by paid agent provocateurs who incite violence, “legitimizing” the police repression.

Do not be fooled by the smoke and mirrors that make up the news and music videos: The presence of heavily armed police forces during public demonstrations is not normal; rather, it is an aberration in a free and democratic society. However, this obvious fact seems to have been forgotten as police state laws and tactics and weaponry are being deployed with increasingly frequency across the world. But there is nothing cool or normal about riot police … even if they are shown with strobe lights in a Jay-Z video. Even if they dance around with Rihanna, Beyonce or Lady Gaga. Even if they’re in all the video games. An oppressive police force is the opposite of normal in a free and just society. And if riot police ever do become normal, the elite will have accomplished an incredible feat: Duping the masses into accepting a police state, without it even knowing it.