Words by Jesse Serwer
Mos Def and Talib Kweli made a video in one, but, really and truly, the dollar van doesn’t get repped nearly enough in song lyrics, considering its status as the definitive and preferred mode of transportation in the cultural mecca that is Brooklyn. Delivered to our inbox with the subject line, “Been told that this sounds like Mr. Cheeks went to Guyangola,” Old Money’s “Dolla Van (Acuras, Maximas, Cressidas & Celicas)” is something of an East Flatbush answer to the Lost Boyz “Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz.”
The video captures all sorts of choice Flatbush scenery, from the yardman-preferred vehicles in the song’s title to the human hair-and-African-movies superstore (believe us, it don’t get more Flatbush than that). The short, under-3-minute- tune may leave you more curious than anything, though. For a fuller taste of their hybrid of hip-hop, dancehall and Afro house (and some more Flatbush-centered visuals), we recommend absorbing their videos for “Bodega,” (with Prince Quan Love) “Mamaseh,” (watch below, after “Dolla Van”) and “Maroon on the Move.”