I Stand On That

3.16.21

E-40 I Stand On That Music Video Released 3.16.21

Back in late October, E-40 teamed up with Joyner Lucas and T.I. to release a joint hit single, I Stand On That. This was a few weeks prior to the Verzuz battle that took place between E-40 and Too $hort. A few months later, the legendary trio that I did not know I needed came back with the visuals for the track. While maintaining social distancing and practicing safety protocols, this video was completely on fire from start to finish.

This trio is something really interesting. You have E-40, the leader of the Bay area of California. T.I., notoriously known as the King of the South. Then, you have Joyner Lucas. A younger talent from the Boston area who spits like he grew up with these guys in their early primes. With Joyner’s quick flow and heavy bars, T.I. and E-40 had to come with their best they’ve showed in recent times, and they certainly came to play.

The video starts with a woman playing the flute that you hear at the beginning fo the song. This reminds me of the Twista videos and the violinist. Something about actually seeing the instruments being played always seemed like a level up on every other video that this does not come through. Joyner Lucas has the first verse. He is wearing an orange Nike pullover hoodie. Definitely the most modest of the bunch, but does not hold back. The video takes place in what looks like an old warehouse with some really old school cars with hydraulics. Now this definitely brings me back to the Bay with E-40 Terms and Conditions days.

Joyner pokes at the coronavirus, and plays off of Eminem’s rhyming patterns of namedropping five different chemicals that rhyme. I am not sure if Eminem was the first to do this, but I know that he got a bit of heat for it, since no one knows what it really means contextually, and the two have recently collaborated, so it seems to make sense that he was inspired by the Detroit legend missing here. What is also funny is that the warehouse vibes that we get from the scene also looks like where Eminem and Royce Da 5’9 recorded the Shady 2.0 Cypher back in 2014. Anyways, Joyner does continue to share some powerful bars within his verse. He pays homage to Kobe in a way that seemed to roll over much more smoothly than Meek Mill’s recent name drop. And, funny enough, he slightly shades the Grammys, dropping the music video just twenty-four hours after the 2021 Grammys aired.

Pull up my mamba, R.I.P. Kobe
That's my OG (That's my OG)
Still no Grammy, but I got trophies

Joyner Lucas

As we move on to the second verse, which is E-40, the location stays the same, but it is just E-40 and two ladies in the frame. Each artist seems to appear in a similar styled location, but they are not together. This is likely due to the pandemic, traveling, and having too many people in one area. It is interesting to see the safety protocols visually happening in newly created projects. Here, we also see E-40 with a brown leather MCM face mask around his neck, to match his brown knitted beanie. He paired that with some distressed denim, a white tee with a statement jacket, and some some Air Maxes. E-40 is really doing something with that mask here, but ultimately I keep him in the middle when it comes to wardrobe for the video.

E-40 brought the fashion, and he did not forget the bars. As a classic E-40 would, he says some questionable things, but also sheds plenty of knowledge within his verse. He tells people to go vote, talks about investing your money in properties, but remembers where he came from, where some of friends made it out, but some are still in the streets. My favorite part about this verse is when E-40 says “Take a picture with money all down my arm.” Just like Joyner had a bar about the Grammys which is super relevant to right now, Kodak Black just got into it with Pooh Shiesty about calling out Lil Baby about who started taking photos with money all down their arms. This shows that even though E-40’s prime was many years ago, he is still focused and listening.

Finally, my personal favorite, T.I. The King of the South kills it in every way for his verse on the track. T.I. has two different looks in the video. The first would be my favorite. A matching gray sweatsuit, with a black peacoat with peach lapel lining. His hate is a black and gray camouflage Dodgers hat which matches perfectly, and I believe some Sacai Nikes on feet. One is red and one is blue, which Nike has sold as pairs this way a few times. This look hands down has the win in my book. T.I. second look is a bit more relaxed with an all white sweatsuit and a tan bucket hat.

T.I. and his wife Tiny have been going through it lately, be he left it all out on the field for this one, and the energy came through for the video. I do think that the L.I.B.R.A was dope, but this was one of T.I.’s best verses in ages. In the video, he rehearses his rhymes with emotion and makes the most fun out of his situation. He takes on a bit of inspiration from E-40 in the track. While he does open by declaring himself King of the South, he acknowledges growing up on E-40 and Too $hort, and ultimately also sheds knowledge in his verse for listeners, just as E-40 does best.

I grew up on game from Too $hort and E-40
A triple OG and just 'bout to be forty'

…

They say things, I do things, I buy buildings, they buy new bling

We have seen T.I. go through a lot as an artist, and a business man. From Trap Muzik, to going to jail, coming back and having a television show to stop the youth from going to jail. Struggling back and forth but ultimately coming out on top. To going mainstream with Rhianna, to being Atlanta’s voice for social justice movements. He scored a great Netflix television show and continues to put out new, good music. Times are tough right now, but hopefully this video is a sign that things are getting better for him and his family.

Overall, the video was dope, and I really love this song. Highly recommend if you are not yet familiar. You can check out the full official music video on YouTube here.