In their first video, Detroit hip-hop group Large Extra Large (stylized LXL) chronicle economic woes and frustrations through a distinctly Midwestern lens. Amid their rhyme spitting in “Mung Bean Chutney”, the group samples clips from the preeminent working-class sitcom, Roseanne, to bolster the tension, the disgust with right-wing rationalizers, and underscore the malaise.
“It is intended to be the first in a series of videos telling the story of a working class father and husband who has become the doormat for a revolving door of would-be Trump supporters, a shit covered toddler, and a bi-polar wife,” LXL said. “The song utilizes samples from the episode of Roseanne where they find a bag of weed from their youth, and smoke that shit. The video borrowed heavily from the aesthetic of Roseanne, relying on the laugh-track cut in by the skilled hands of Kee Flo.”
LXL is composed of emcees WarrenPeace and Jah Connery and DJ Kee Flo. The two rappers say they found a near instant chemistry when they met “based on similar political views, cultural references, musical taste, as well as being in similar life stages (married with young child/ren).”
Writing sessions, based on Jah’s interest in producing a WarrenPeace solo album, soon culminated in enough collaborative material to begin playing shows. They played their first gig in February 2015. At that point Kee Flo, a childhood friend of Jah, joined the band. They released their debut EP, Nosh Pit in September 2015 on Modern Knot Artists.
The video was shot over three days in February and March of 2016 in Hamtramck, Michigan, by Josef “Coney” Petrous with additional shooting done by Chris Kozelenko. It is also the directorial debut of Jah Connery, while the song was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Eddie Logix at Assemble Sound in Detroit.