I’m not really what you’d call a die-hard Alicia Keys fan. Not that I think her music is bad, but she’s not really an artist I clamor for. I’ll listen to a song of hers if someone else plays it, or if it’s on the radio, but I don’t think I’ve ever cared to listen to any of her albums in their entirety. But if there’s one song of hers that’s turning out to be one of my favorites, it’s her latest single “Un-thinkable”. It has a great balance of emotion, sincerity, sensuality, and just does an overall superb job of eliciting the right kind of response from listeners. And thankfully there’s a nice video to go with it. Yeah, it would have been easy to set the whole tale of forbidden interracial love between Keys and Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill) exclusively during the peak of the civil rights era, and thus rather boring. The great thing about this video is how they track the progression of their romance through several decades, leading up to present day. It really strengthens the narrative, while matching the song perfectly. And on a completely frivolous note, it’s a kick to see the two leads in different hairstyles and wardrobe as the video progresses. Keys’ frizzy do, and Murray’s “good ol’ boy” mullet made for a nice moment of unintentional comedy during the 80′s portion!
I vaguely remember there being some talk about this young lady, especially with her catching the attention of Justin Timberlake. Getting past all of the goofy bastards YouTube continues to make famous, it’s nice when the sun shines on a dog’s ass from time to time, and graces us with some relatively talented individuals. The Dutch songstress’ debut single is pretty decent, tinged with 80s urban pop courtesy of The Malloys. Even the video’s nice, if not terribly groundbreaking. Although I feel like she’s trying to be a little too sexy. She’s a cute girl, but there’s cute, and then there’s sexy. I’d prefer she had actually lips, but she’s foreign, so I’ll forgive her!
Jay-Z – On To The Next One
A fitting song to kick off the New Year. I’m still on the fence about the video, though. I could care less about the alleged Illuminati symbolism, I just wanna know what’s up with all the models in “Cirque Du Soleil from Hell” makeup.
Talib Kweli & Mos Def – History
Now this is what I’m talkin’ about, right here! Yeah, we’re all waiting for a new Black Star album, but I’ll be happy getting a new track here and there in the meantime. Something is always better than nothing.
RJD2 – Let There Be Horns
RJ’s new album The Colossus is dropping later this month, and with guest artists like Kenna and Phonte from Little Brother and Foreign Exchange, I could easily see it being one of my favorites for the year. This video for the first single is definitely “interesting” to say the least. We need to see more maladjusted, love-lorn minatours in music videos!
Little Dragon – Never, Never
“We get it, Kayode! You love Yukimi Nagano! Enough, already!” NO! It’ll never be enough, dammit!! Yeah, the mirror effect has been around since forever, but it’s a classic! It never really gets old, does it? So you keep doin’ your dance, Yukimi!
Sia – You’ve Changed
A cute little video for one of my favorite songs at the moment. Looks like something Michel Gondry would do.
I know the assault incident between Rihanna and Chris Brown is still pretty fresh in a lot of people’s minds. It certainly isn’t something one can just “get over”. Both parties appeared to have been doing their bests to get on with their lives, and focus on their respective careers.
Now, I’ve never been a Chris Brown fan by any stretch of the imagination, and if I didn’t hate Lil’ Wayne enough for being grossly overrated as a rapper, I hate him even more for getting so many hot women pregnant!!! (often more than one at the same time) But dammit if the new video for Chris’ song “I Can Transform You” isn’t kinda cool. The feature film fumble that was Torque aside, Joseph Kahn is still at the top of his game when it comes to music videos. While definitely not known for groundbreaking concepts, he does have a knack for taking simple visual ideas and giving them a striking and dynamic feel. Although, the brief appearance of Tyrese near the end isn’t nearly as clever as it should have been. I’d have had Shia LaBeouf in that joint huggin’ up on that sexy lil’ motorcycle chick like “Didn’t they tell you? I pimp hard!”
Apologies for not posting last week. No excuse for it. Time to get back on track.
Shakira – She Wolf
Watching this video, I’m reminded of the belief that some hold about relating dancing to sex. If that’s the case, Shakira would be that girl that’s great in bed . . . until her finger goes somewhere you don’t expect it to. You may learn to like it, but for the love of God, warn us before you do it the first time!
Planet Asia & DJ Toure – Super Hero
Hip-hop, comics AND video games?! That’s fun for the whole family!
Maxwell – Bad Habit
. . . . . . Well dang, Maxwell. If this ain’t grown AND sexy, I don’t know what is. You can’t really go wrong when you’ve got Kerry Washington as your love interest, but dammit if they didn’t go for broke when the time came to make with the lovin’!
Goapele – Milk & Honey
Obviously, I’m gonna have to go back and check out Goapele’s earlier work, ’cause this song needs to be on my iPod yesterday. Just about everything in this vid is on point, especially the little bits of 80s throwback flavor. And for whatever reason, I’m even digging the gold fangs she’s sporting. Yeah, I know, I’m weird.
mathpanda – Our Kinetics
Speaking of weird . . . . Hailing from DC, mathpanda definitely take it back with this one, when hip-hop acts used to have some pretty trippy concepts for their videos. The whole silent movie look is a perfect fit for the manic rhymes, and things only get weirder from there; disembodied heads in picnic baskets, headless men aimlessly wandering about a forest, all kinds of . . . head. You’ve been warned.
Another week, another video round-up. Y’all know the drill!
Jadyn Maria ft. Flo Rida – Good Girls Like Bad Boys
This new kid on the block comes to us courtesy of Ne-Yo, and she certainly has some potential. I’m gonna have to see a live performance before I’m sold on her, but otherwise, she fits into a certain pop/R&B mold that will serve her well. And yeah, the whole Red Riding Hood motif for this video doesn’t hurt. But dammit, why is Flo Rida involved!??! WHY MUST YOU PUNISH ME, LORD!!!!
Raphael Saadiq – Let’s Take A Walk
While I wasn’t necessarily taken with The Way I See It, it doesn’t take away from my opinion of Raqhael Saddiq, who continues to make great music that can be appreciated by all types of music lovers. Of course this video would be a full-on 60s Motown throwback, like the brotha was performing on Ed Sullivan, or somethin’! And the back-up dancers are pretty damn groovy.
Vida Guerra ft. Prohoezak – Like That
It’s Vida. . . .and she’s rapping. . . . . .This is why God created the mute button, ’cause there’s really no other way to tolerate, much less enjoy this video.
Kid Cudi ft. Kanye West & Common – Make Her Say
Ya know, after all this time, I just can’t figure out what this song is supposed to be about! I feel like I have an idea, and it’s right on the tip of my head, I mean tongue. And this video doesn’t help me solve the mystery! It’s gonna drive me nuts if I don’t figure it out soon!
Tabi Bonney – Jet Setter
Tabi certainly is an odd character, but I think he’s made that one of his strengths. As someone who lives in the DC/Metro area, I was more than happy to see him performing at the Rock The Bells second stage a little over a week ago. And he’s always got the nicest ladies in his videos! Even on a lower budget that most rap vids, the “grown folks rooftop party” theme is a nice touch.
It’s about that time again! Let’s see what the video gods have seen fit to bestow upon us!
Beyonce – Sweet Dreams
I guess we should be grateful that she decided to add some color to her patented “Me flanked by two back-up dancers in a blank space” formula! And at least the song is a different kind of sound than we’re used to hearing from Sasha Fierce. I still think she needs to hire some new directors. How tripped out would a Beyonce video directed by Chris Cunningham be?!? THAT would give you some “beautiful nightmares”!
KRS-One & Buckshot – Robot
I went to the Rock The Bells concert last night, and after KRS-One’s impromptu performance while waiting for Nas, I can’t say I have any desire to see him perform ever again. Any show he’d do would be 40% rapping, and 60% history lesson, and I graduated college too long ago to sit through lectures when I pay for hip-hop music! As for this vid, I can’t say much about it. Another shot taken at auto-tune that’s far less clever than the artists responsible think it is. I find myself appreciating Jay-Z’s “D.O.A.” just a little bit more.
Chali 2NA ft. Talib Kweli – Lock Sh*t Down
I suppose it’ll do. I’ve never expected much from the members of Jurassic 5, but they do seem to have worked longer and harder than most, so I’ll give credit where credit’s due.
Flo Rida ft. Nelly Furtado – Jump
Just when I thought I couldn’t take Flo Rida any less seriously as a rap artist (much less an actual person), he gives us a song that apparently will be featured on the soundtrack to that Disney movie that’s coming out about talking gerbil spies, G-Force. Even Nelly “I’m like a promiscuous bird!” Furtado couldn’t be bothered to appear in this god-awful dreck, opting for a computer-generated stand-in that looks like it stepped out of a Playstation One game!
I figured rather than do individual posts for every video I happen across, I’d just consolidate a week’s worth of notable clips into one post, on a weekly basis, for the sake of efficiency.
Methodman & Redman ft. Eric Sermon – Mrs. International
Meth and Red are certainly some damn fools for this one! Their failed sitcom aside, you can always count on these two to come with some jokes! Red’s best moment comes near the end of the vid. Comedy Gold, I tell ya!
Jay-Z – D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)
I know a lot of folks cracked jokes on Jay about his hair when he seemed to not really be too concerned with proper grooming, but I personally liked the beady bushell! If anything, I thought it made him look younger. There was this pep in his step that I hadn’t seen from him in a while. In any event, the video wasn’t bad, but it’s not great, either. Even the appearance of Harvey Keitel only slightly raises the brow.
Naledge – Focus
I really need cats to stop sleepin’ on this dude. The Kidz In The Hall Detention Mixtape still gets heavy play on my iPod, and The In Crowd was a more than admirable follow-up to School Was My Hustle. I just love the concept of this vid, composed entirely of still photography. Reminds me of a lot of old school rap videos before we all wanted everything to be on some Michael Bay shit.
Drake – Best I Ever Had
Oh, Drizzle! Don’t you realize females are the backbone of your fanbase?!? You really think they won’t take issue with the stupendously gratuitous amount T&A (but mostly T!) in this video? Not that I personally have a problem with it, but I’m just looking out for your best interests! Some of these ladies can be a fickle bunch, and you need to do your best to keep ‘em happy!
