On Tuesday, the very first rap music video to ever be recorded in North Korea was revealed in an exclusive report by The Guardian.
Washington D.C.-based rappers, (Anthony Bobb) Pacman, 19, and (Dontray Ennis) Peso, 20, uploaded to YouTube a video with the title “Escape to North Korea.”
Becoming one of the few Americans to visit North Korea, other than Denis Rodman, obviously the two were not welcomed by the country’s communist leader, Kim Jong-un.
Ironically, the Hip Hop duo posted the video on Jong-un’s 31st birthday.
The unsigned artists initially received support for their trip through an online campaign on Kickstarter. However, their greatest support came from 25-year-old investment banker, Ramsey Aburdene. (image)
After an unplanned acquaintance with Aburdene, he became their manager. Ever since then, their rap career has been taking off.
The two wanted to travel in secrecy, but an article by Gawker publicized Pacman and Peso’s trip to North Korea. As soon as the two landed and entered into the airport, paparazzi and journalists were there waiting to greet them.
However, the pair continued onto their anticipated exploration of the country they’ve been so anxious but yet excited to experience for some time.
Their five-day trip consisted of rides on tourist buses and walks down military surveillance streets. Yet each time, Pacman and Peso were discretely recording scenes of their video.
Their music video was mainly shot in the metropolitan area of Pyongyang with the assistance of a mutual military friend of Aburden, who gathered up people to be apart of the video project. Other portions of the video include shots of historical monuments and farmland.
Throughout their trip, both said that they did not experience any issues and mentioned how people on the streets were nice and even waved at them as they passed by.
One thing that they have become enlightened about, however, is North Korea’s political animosity towards America.
“We learned about their leaders and why they have problems with America. All the Koreans we met were cool… It was all love over there. It wasn’t how what people was saying it would be,” Peso told AFP.
The first thought that came to mind when Pacman safely departed from the communist state was, “We made it out. We beat the odds.”
Check out the music video prelude here shot in Hong Kong: