How Is A-Reece’s ‘The Matrix’ Reference Prepping Us For ‘Paradise 2’?

Yesterday you might have noticed that A-Reece has pretty much started building up some serious hype for his highly anticipated Paradise 2 album which is an album that fans have eagerly been waiting for a while to get… So A-Reece shared a cryptic and very cinematic Paradise 2 teaser that references the famous “wake up Neo’ scene from ‘The Matrix’ movie. Now, this is an interesting movie to reference a musical project on as the almost 2-minute long teaser already gives off some deep details that might help prep us all for what we can expect… And with that said here are some little details we got in the teaser about Paradise 2 thanks to ‘The Matrix’.

First of all, if you haven’t watched ‘The Matrix’ trilogy yet than you’ve got to sort that error out first before reading further because that’s what we’ll be talking about here. So in ‘The Matrix’ Neo is the main character or protagonist that works as a hacker to earn some extra money. Early in the first movie, Neo is contacted via some cryptic messages on his computer from somebody (likely Morpheus) which then leads him on a goal to find out who Morpheus is and what ‘The Matrix; is all about. Now as mentioned, A-Reece’s trailer references this exact scene and he is the “Neo” that gets messages on his PC telling him to wake up. Take note of the screen before we get the shot of A-Reece first though because we see the article (Mash Eludes Record Label) that talks about Reece’s go-to producer MashBeatz who might as well be looked at as the Morpheous in Reece’s “Matrix” because in the movie an article about Morpheous appears which means that A-Reece was looking Mash up (research-wise)… That reveal already signifies the rare connection that both individuals (Mash & Reece) have with each other but although both their worlds were meant to collide, they both also have their own lives, clout, ambitions, and purpose, etc. So MashBeatz is obviously playing a big role in Paradise 2.

Oh , what’s interesting to also note is the 10 August 2020 date stamp on the Mash article that has many believing is the drop date of the album. 

So as the teaser moves on, we finally get a shot of sleeping (headphone-wearing) Reece who is napping in front of his computer and is surrounded by items such as music-making equipment, a blunt, Reece Effect tapes, a lava lamp… Just simple things right. In ‘The Matrix’, Neo is also asleep in front of his PC in his apartment that’s undecorated with little furniture and no luxuries… Just simple stuff in his world (computers, tech, etc). Now, what makes this part quite an important one is that from first look most of us would look at the situation and waste no time judging the sleeping protagonists as procrastinators, drop-outs, or whatever simply because of the environment and how we are first introduced to them (Reece & Neo). We might be safe in saying that no one can really anticipate what Paradise 2 will offer…

 

So yes, our first character physically introduced in this teaser is A-Reece sleeping but why? Why else would he choose him taking a nap to be his intro? This is what we got here, so to Neo luxuries are of no importance and he knows something is wrong his “ideal” world and rejects it. To A-Reece music is the only thing that seems to matter, or at least it’s the biggest ambition physically shown in the clip. It’s no secret that Reece’s fans constantly demand new music from him day after day which is a reality Reece is obviously aware of but he feels no pressure to conform to these spontaneous demands, which is the reason why he is asleep… But take note of the headphones, he probably fell asleep listening to his own music which further reveals his work ethic even though he’s asleep. The sleeping might also reveal that Reece has turned his back on the accepted social norms (social media, the celeb lifestyle etc.) and instead focuses all his time and money pursuing the best version of himself mostly mentally, physiologically but musically as well.

We then get to see the part where Reece wakes up from the cryptic ‘Wake up Reece’ message being sent to him on his computer. This signifies an interaction between a computer (The Matrix) and Reece who reacts verbally instead of text. His computer then receives the messages “The Matrix Has You…” which increases the suspense a little especially after Reece reacts to a knocking sound heard outside… Reece then briefly engages with the message by using the ‘Ctrl + x’ keyboard combination which leads to the message “Enter Paradise, Unlock Your Residual Self Image”, which not only confirms the existence of ‘The Matrix’ for him but confirms the existence of Paradise 2 for us the fans.

It all ends with Reece trying to end or escape the conversation he is having with the computer, ‘The Matrix ‘or whoever is on the other end but before that Reece verbally highlights the words ‘Residual Self…” which is stated as “the concept that individuals tend to think of themselves as projecting a certain physical appearance, a certain position of social entitlement, or lack thereof”. In ‘The Matrix’, this concept is interpreted by how a person who exists in a digitally created world is subconsciously maintaining the physical appearance that they had become accustomed to projecting.

So yeah, we can get quite a broad and deep analysis from this short trailer that effectively messages out a variety of themes but one of the mains being the concept of self-awareness. Let us know what your breakdowns are and whether you’re hype for Paradise 2 which might drop in a couple of days.

Scroll to Top

Join the Hype fam and sign-up today

Newsletters • competitions • events