(AllHipHop News) To say the United States and North Korea’s relationship is rocky would be an early candidate for understatement of the year. In spite of that, two rappers from DC recorded a music video in North Korea and returned to America to speak on the generosity of the North Korean people, concerns about their safety and a great night of lobster and Sprite.
A month prior to DC rappers Pacman and Peso’s Kickstarter-funded trip to North Korea, the The State Department of America issued a blanket warning to all Americans traveling to North Korea. Speaking exclusively to The Guardian, the two MC’s say to avoid detection, they planned to shoot the video under the guise of a sightseeing tour, however became concerned about their safety before even arriving in North Korea due to the media coverage about their impending trip.
All the buzz we were getting, I thought we were gonna get hemmed up, captured. I was like: uh-oh. Are we gonna make it?-Pacman
The group were dangerously close to becoming prisoners of Beijing when Peso ran away after being struck by a car near Tiananmen Square, which resulted in Pacman being detained by the angered crowd. However, the duo was released and
The duo shot their scenes at government-approved locations in the company of their tour guides and filmed intermittently throughout the tour. Due to the fact the shoot had to be secretive, the duo were unable to use microphones, headphones or any music and “were just spitting to the voice that was in our head” according to Peso.
Despite the United States State Department’s warning of “the risk of arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens in North Korea”, Peso and Pacman maintain that the native North Koreans were magnanimous:
The old ladies looked like they were carrying the heaviest things. The army people walking down the street had guns. You see a whole bunch of rice fields. People was riding bikes. The little kids was walking down the street by themselves, they must have been in first grade. But everybody waved.-Pacman
Check out a preview of the first rap video shot in North Korea by American artists below in The Guardian‘s exclusive video preview: