Ed. Note: Letter Racer’s PSA from last year is more relevant than ever today.
Last night, New York creative collective Letter Racer released the most on point social statement via an anti-Xanax pro-music animated PSA. The short, “THROW THE XANS IN THE CAN,” was released with an accompanying T-shirt that we think is our modern-day D.A.R.E. shirt. The short’s “message to the youts” is clear: THROW. THE. XANS. IN. THE. CAN. The lean too. The video’s description includes the below text in full:
“This is a message to our friends and extended family telling yall to stop abusing xanax. The video mocks the horrible things that people do when they take xanax. These things such as violence, theviery, and most importantly disrespecting women are not meant to be taken lightly. Xanax ain’t hip hop. This video is for anybody who’s seen the effects of xanax on their friends and community and want to do something to stop it.”
Senay Kenfe (who interviewed Ratking for The Hundreds blog in 2014) describes Letter Racer as an “art collective that best encapsulates the youth movement of the new New York underground scene.” The family includes all 3 members of Ratking, members of hardcore and sludge-influenced band Show Me The Body, and fellow NYC-based artists like Arvid Logan, who created the incredible, visceral—what looks like finger-painted acrylic and spray painted—backgrounds in the “THROW THE XANS IN THE CAN” short.
Check out the video below, animated by Jayme Lemperle, produced by Reuben Sinder and Matt Lubansky, with characters and backgrounds by Arvid Logan.
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#THROWTHEXANSINTHEHCAN. Watch Ratking’s Wiki playing our SPITSET free party in NYC here.