Vinnie Paz has had one of the longest stretching careers. With musical ventures with Army of the Pharoahs, Jedi Mind Tricks plus his own solo efforts, he's been putting in work for years and has rightfully gained a dedicated fanbase. Paz, through his vivid lyricism and insightful observations, has made sure that every effort that he puts out aligns with what he believes, not what is hot.
In 2016, he dropped his latest solo project The Cornerstone of the Corner Store. With that, today he drops the video for "The Ghost I Used To Be" with assistance from his frequent collaborator Eamon.
The song itself, like the majority of Paz's work, is a vivid story line that draws correlations with many topics. This song in particular highlights the distribution of crack and how affects the dealer. It gives a detail to the mentality of a drug dealer and even with exiting the game, how the game eventually comes back haunt.
The video shows the lead character as a dopeboy on the corner to eventually leading a straight and narrow life, and how it eventually catches up to him.
The director of the video does a great job aligning the lyrics to the song. At one point in the song, Paz raps "I said when I get older, I'mma change shit/ Take the welfare system and rearrange it." The video aligns with this as the lead character is seen running a political campaign as a candidate and is shooting a commercial with his wife. The second that line drops, his head drops down in disappointment.
It's a solid video and Vinnie Paz continuously proves that he's not only an incredible rapper but an incredible writer at that.
The rest of his album The Cornerstone of the Corner Stone is just as great. If you haven't heard it yet, go check it out.