Get busy living or get busy dying, the choice is yours. Brooklyn wild man Meechy Darko’s latest Gothic Luxury single “Get Lit Or Die Tryin’” takes its inspiration from this quote, as well as the philosophy of 50 Cent‘s star-making first album, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, as well as a sample (from “Hustler’s Ambition”). The gravel-voiced Flatbush Zombie demonstrates just how intense this nihilistic outlook can get in the song’s black-and-white video, which follows Meechy and his gang as they live recklessly, robbing gangsters and challenging each other to a game of Russian roulette.
“Get Lit Or Die Tryin’” is the second single from Gothic Luxury, Meechy’s upcoming solo debut album. He announced the album a month ago with the defiant video for “Kill Us All (K.U.A.),” a (justifiably) paranoid anthem detailing the systemic oppression of Black Americans at the hands of the government and its agents. That backdrop is the overall inspiration for Gothic Luxury, which he calls “the most personal thing I’ve ever done.” “I’m in an extremely soul-stirring part of my life right now,” Meechy explained in a statement. “Who I was yesterday may not be who I am tomorrow. I’m not who I was last week. There’s no telling who I’ll be next year or the year after, so it’s very important to capture this while I can still feel.”
Watch Meechy Darko’s “Get Lit Or Die Tryin” video above.
Gothic Luxury is due 8/26 via Loma Vista Recordings. You can pre-save it here.