If you’re looking for something new to tickle your funny bone and speak to your soul, Comedy Central’s latest series, The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle, might be it. Proclaiming itself a socially aware stand-up and music program, the ambitious series combines humor and harmony in ways you wouldn’t expect. Take for instance one of their recent skits, “Woke As Me.” Resident rapper Open Mike Eagle engages the MC’s MC Phonte in a war of words and wit in everyone’s favorite battleground, the barbershop.
The scene starts off with Open Mike Eagle and Phonte having a little friendly discussion while getting lined up. That is, until Phone accuses Mike of not being woke. He pretty much called that brother comatose for not believing a Beyoncé conspiracy theory. Then a freestyle battle for the wokest one of all jumps off. “Your mind is not open / You're probably not votin’ / You throw away whole roaches / Homie we compostin’,” OME spits during his verse. Meanwhile, as the guys go at it like seasoned pros on the mic, two guys hop on the video game machine in the corner to play a game called WOKKEN featuring combatants with names like Sex Worker, Hotep, Campus Crusader and Yoga Mom battling it out with their special moves.
While Mike got his jabs in, Phonte starts off by stating his credentials, then putting his foot on the neck of his opponent. “Tryna beat me in a woke off and get broke off / No joke, cause you don't want to smoke with this woke Tom Brokaw,” Tay effortlessly flows. He even injects some humor into his bars. "I been body positive, me and my hoes are overweight," Phonte raps, talking his ish.
“Woke As Me” is the third rap video Open Mike Eagle has shared from The New Negroes. Each week, the show will release a new song and video to accompany the latest episode. Previous collaborations include tracks with MF DOOM and Danny Brown. To see who wins the battle of wokeness and wits between Open Mike Eagle and Phonte, click play below.
