Considering the various objects that have bestowed time traveling abilities on unsuspecting pop culture figures — DeLoreans, infinity stones, hot tubs — an elevator isn’t the least plausible avenue through the space-time continuum. It’s unclear why 2 Chainz decided on an elevator-set, chronology-twisting narrative for his “Money In The Way” video, but once it begins the clip follows a similar formula to any traditional time travel tale. Or hero (2 Chainz) goes back to the past to fight injustice, faces opposition from establishment figures and, eventually, overcomes adversity through the power of capitalism.
In the Vincent Lou-directed visual, Chainz experiences the black power movement of the 1960s, the rise of rap in the ’80s and he returns to the present day a wiser man. The Atlanta rapper goes from dancing on a pile of $100 bills in his physics-breaking metal box to investing in real estate; a classic riches to riches tale. A local financial newspaper, Big Money Times, reports “2 Chainz Buys the Block” but its findings are dubiously backed up – the paragraphs are all Lil Wayne and Tity Boi lyrics, and the accompanying graph fails to list what their x and y-axes measure. Publishing rap lines as hard-hitting journalism would likely save this industry, but they don’t explain how Chainz became a successful real estate investor in the span of 40 or so years.
On Friday, 2 Chainz released Rap or Go to the League, which featured LeBron James as the project’s A&R. Unfortunately, the album doesn’t come with access to a time-traveling elevator.