“Timeless” by Playboi Carti feat. The Weeknd
"Ever since I was a jit, knew I was the shit."
The dualities of the song "Timeless" by Playboi Carti and The Weeknd are intertwined with the narratives of now. Due to the authoritarian takeover of the governments, the pluralism of information, and the forcible habits by which electronics seem to curate our minds, we are all in a sort of purgatory/hellscape.
The video, shot by acclaimed young photographer Gunner Stahl, follows a twisted, seedy look into the psyche behind the rap industry. Gunner Stahl, known for his youth and near stumbling into rap media royalty, himself, represents the type of person that eventually finds success in the rap industry. The video has the rappers performing in a dark warehouse, with a definite underworld tone to the entire thing. Carti wears a pentagram necklace and demon ears, almost signifying himself entirely as the demon guarding The Weeknd's lustful purgatory. Out of nowhere, the viewer is bombarded with images of scantily clad women dancing, representing the temptation of the rap life, the lust for money and possibly the choices these men have made along their careers. All of this wrapped up in a music video, which is kind of the point of these kinds of things.
These music videos are not necessarily occult weapons or tools, they use the symbols found therein because of their resonance through time.
A well-known quote from Carl Jung regarding the shadow is: "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.".
This quote can be found in Jung's collected works, specifically Volume 11: "Psychology and Religion: West and East".
Carti definitely represents a Jungian shadow within the rap game, and the demonic influences, aesthetics? are definitely present in this video. Throughout the song, Carti switches through various voices, a baby voice, a grown up voice and something else. Again, the speaking in tongues/shifting in languages not seen before.
Even the song's title, Timeless, gives this sort of purgatorial feel. A place without time, distant from God, guarded by demons, where people are forced to reflect on their sins before going on to Heaven or Hell.
It's really a marvel to see how Abel's storyline for his character coalesces in this place, where it seems that time has really stopped, and not just for his character in his threequel to his after death "posthumous" Dawn FM, but in a time where rap has really fallen off. Abel gives an homage to the people who built him with this song. The way he chants, "Timeless, timeless, timeless" gives a feeling of Lil Pump and the other clout rappers of their time. The song, produced by Pharrell, could have easily featured Travi$ Scott and been on one of his earlier albums like Rodeo or Days Before Rodeo.
“It don’t matter what they say, I’m timeless.” Timeless beat, timeless techniques of women, catchy hooks, timeless fashion and timeless vocals make this song what it is: a declaration that The Weeknd is stuck in purgatory.
