LaDonnis Teams With Visuals Master Andy Hines To Co-Direct His Latest “Smackdown”

LaDonnis is back with a vengeance and a savage new follow-up to June’s fiery song-of-the-times, Black Boy, this time teaming with the always visionary Andy Hines.

From the opening line, “I’m sick and tired of seeing Black folks get shot” which LaDonnis quite literally spits, you know instantly that Smackdown is more Tear Da Club Up than We Shall Overcome and that is its power. Smackdown is the perfect protest song for where we all stand in 2020 – staring in to a dystopia most of us feel powerless to prevent.

In the opening credits though, LaDonnis assures us that his intention is to incite dissent vs. violence. To prove it he is simultaneously launching his own voting initiative, #HackTheBallot, which encourages people, especially in the swing states, to request their mail-in ballots now to ensure they arrive in time to cast your vote. The initiative will put ad money behind celeb and influencer selfie videos touting the website and a call to vote in hopes of engaging the elusive youth vote to turn out in record numbers.

Over the course of his career, LaDonnis has graced every major media outlet and every stage from Coachella to the Governor’s Ball and his growth as an artist is evident in the more personal and significant nature of his most recent releases. LaDonnis will follow this trajectory with his next video, King, due out on 10/30, followed by the 11/6 release of his 7-song EP, American Psycho on his own Free Love Studios label.