I Finally Figured Out What It Is About That Levi's Commercial

It’s distinctly creepy, this ad about Braddock, Pennsylvania and how a long time ago, things got broken there and “people got sad and left…” And not just because of the quasi-spiritual, quasi-Soviet sloganeering, and not just because of the questionable politics behind a corporate giant turning a depressed town and its inhabitants into marketing mascots. (And that can cut both ways. Braddock seems to be honestly benefitting.) No, it’s something else, it’s about the voice-over.

It’s just like the kid from the beginning to GZA’s Liquid Swords!

Which is taken from the beginning of Robert Houston’s Shogun Assassin.

Lastly, since we’re on the subject of Wu-Tang and clothing, here’s GZA’s cousin and group leader, RZA, discussing his style — and more than that, his life philosophy, really — at his Los Angeles home with the fashion site StylelikeU. (It’s long, eight minutes. But I find RZA so charming and likeable, the clip goes by in a blink. But I am a huge Wu-nerd.)