Marlon Dubois’ project L/\KEHOUSE straddles the line between short film and music video, all while remaining loyal to music video tropes of the 21st century. An ambient beat plays as the cast of Shed Theory, Marlon’s collective, squads up on a pebbled beach. The film has a muted natural color treatment to it, and the vibe is unlike really anything else I’ve seen in music videos. Drug addiction has always been a theme in Marlon’s music, and L/\KEHOUSE really puts the monotony of drug abuse into motion picture. 

12/16/22

The first track is called ASPEN, and it sets the stage for the surrealistic style the rest of the video develops. There’s a lake house, most likely an AirBnB rented for a rap camp, with statues of Poseidon and two lions populating the front yard. They are statements of power in a sea very ambiguous overall aesthetic, like lighthouses guiding the way through Marlon’s bizzaro rap documentary. It is also completely possible the crew just thought they looked cool as well. The video cuts to a shot of the whole crew nodded off in chairs with a TV playing the news in the background.

On Look Closer, Shed Theory does what looks like a pagan ritual soundtracked by grunting and adlibs, with talks of zombies in the background. The low framerate imitates flashes of memories from an intoxicating night. Drink the Rock continues into the nonsense, and Marlon’s continued obsession with water, whether Rick Owens branded or not. 

open.spotify.com/track/06MjbE33HATwZXr65CHjIK?si=aa6b2cb7ab6b482a 

There’s something almost unsettling about watching NY fashion kids play around on a beach. From what I’ve gleaned about the scene, there’s a sense of seriousness and snobbiness around the NYC art scene, but I am almost relieved watching Marlon act like he’s getting beat to death with a rock, laugh it off, slide down a hill. There’s a playfulness lurking underneath the ritualistic CHURCH INTERLUDE, however Shed Theory is leading a cult by this point. To zoom out for some perspective, this video has under 10,000 views as of writing this, and 300 comments, which is indicative of the cult following Marlon has tapped into.