Pharoahe Monch’s Th1rt3en Drop Chilling Animated Video for ‘Kill, Kill, Kill’

Th1rt3en — the new trio of Pharoahe Monch, Jack White’s drummer Daru Jones, and guitarist Marcus Machado — has released a harrowing new video for their song “Kill, Kill, Kill.”

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“Kill, Kill, Kill,” which features Smithsoneon, is a tense, driving cut that blends hip-hop with elements of soul and rock. The new clip, directed and animated by Joe Read, uses striking black-and-white animation to tell the story of three children trying to flee a dystopian city as a menacing drone tracks their movements.

While the trio escape into a nearby forest, they soon encounter a nasty-looking group of creatures wearing plague masks. As “Kill, Kill, Kill” switches to its atmospheric and aching outro, one of the kids cuts down the creatures, but when their masks fall off, they transform back into children. The original trio, however, then put on the masks and the video ends as they assume the form of their enemies.

In a statement, Monch said of the video: “I never thought I’d be able to see this come to life. I’ve been wanting to do an animated release my entire career, but the way this animation syncs so well with the imagery of the song is amazing. Seeing a story that I wrote come to life on multiple mediums at the same time is unfathomable.”

To accompany the “Kill, Kill, Kill” video Th1rt3en are also releasing a comic book limited to just 100 copies (although it’ll also be available digitally). The group is also selling several still images from the video as non-fungible tokens.

“Kill, Kill, Kill” appears on Th1rt3en’s debut album, A Magnificent Day for an Exorcism, which was released in January. Go behind the scenes of the making of Pharoahe Monch and Th1Rt3en’s “Cult 45” video below: