Tag Archive for 'timbaland'

Cassie - Official Girl Is Officially Wack

Published
by
neal
on August 28, 2008
in Music Videos
. 5 Comments

Now that the GMAT is over, I finally have time to rant about analyze music videos again. It takes a lot of time to properly put a video in its place, believe me. Today I’ll discuss Cassie’s new joint Official Girl, featuring Lil Wayne, which premiered last week on FNMTV. As you may know, Cassie is a model who got a record deal with Bad Boy after catching the eye of producer Ryan Leslie, or something like that. I’m a bit fuzzy on the details. Anyway, after a year or so hiatus she’s back on the block. I’ll address both the track and the video.

The Track: The beat is courtesy of Danja and smacks of his mentor Timbaland - that is definitely a good thing. The song is basically Cassie saying ‘i don’t want to be a jumpoff, I want to be your girl for reals,’ but it’s insincere and pushy. If she’s so tired, why doesn’t she just leave? Even Keri Hilson (who belongs to the production team that wrote the song) knows the energy isn’t worth it.

It is by ‘label magic’ alone that the super busy Lil Wayne found time to record a verse. It’s not like he even needs the cash right now. (This has seriously been the year of Weezy F Baby) Sadly, if there was any chance of this song being salvageable, the vocoder towards the end crushes it like a boulder.

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The Video: After about 20 seconds you will inevitably make the Aaliyah connection. I mean come on,The bikini top with the hair and the jacket and the black pants, who are you trying to fool Cassie? This isn’t an homage - it’s cheap imitation. The director, Chris Robinson has actually worked with Aaliyah before, so I’m a little surprised. Additionally, Cassie says in an interview “I’ve never seen myself dance like this before.” What I infer from this is that you really stepped up your dancing game.

But I call bullshit. I’ve seen your other videos, so I have a good baseline. Dancing wise, the video doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It’s the same old moves from the same old Aaliyah videos of yore. If this is a ‘new level’ for you, I’m surprised Diddy didn’t bounce your ass like he did half the girls from Making The Band 3! Lastly, the white bikini. Totally gratuitous! It comes out of nowhere and has no relevance to the rest of the video. You aren’t near a pool, the beach, or even outside.

The Bottomline: Hear me out Cassie. You are a beautiful girl - but if you want to stay in the game, you need to learn to sing, act, or at least dance. They call you a ‘triple threat’ in Step Up 2 - but where is the supporting evidence?

FNMTV - Donnie Klang, Morningwood, The Cab, Santogold

Published
by
neal
on August 9, 2008
in Music Videos
. 2 Comments

Another Saturday, another recap of FNMTV. I’m a bit out of my element this week as I haven’t heard of any of these artists. Frankly, they don’t really coincide with my sphere of musical tastes. So, please excuse my ignorance as I break it down. (and can you believe Bernie Mac just died?)

Donnie Klang - Take You There
First of all, who picks up girls in a liquor store? Second, this Puffy/Klang thing looks like it was specifically devised to compete with the Timbaland/Timberlake sound; it doesen’t compare. Puffy, please back out of the music business and retire to being simply a celebrity. Readers, if you want to see a more accurate idea of how video would have played out, please watch The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down.

Morningwood - Sugarbaby
Haha. Morningwood. I love making fun of American Apparel wearing, gold digging, label whoring, hipster girls. The puppet thing is great too. This video is good for at least 5-6 viewings before I get sick of it - and that’s saying a lot.

The Cab - I’ll Run
This video is comprised of a band performance, long shaggy hair flying around, and some people making out in front of public transportation. There’s no tension, conflict, narrative, and no running. Lastly, is the lead singer seriously rocking a non-skinny tie in 2008? What a fashion faux pas! Homeboy needs a new stylist.

Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (Live)
Santogold is kind of like a skinny Macy Gray, with a simiarly hard to listen to voice. Don’t even get me started on the leotard / jumpsuit outfit. I just can’t get into her steez. Sorry!

The Bottom Line: Morningwood wins the gold medal for “least terrible video” this week along with a special commendation for actually being funny.

Keri Hilson - Flashdancing Takes a Lot of Energy

Published
by
neal
on July 17, 2008
in Movies and Music Videos
. 0 Comments

Keri Hilson just released the video for the lead single Energy off her new album. I don’t know much about Keri, but it turns out she actually has been active for some time. I do know that Timbaland has been promoting her quite a bit these last few months though. So, how does the video stack up? Read on to find out.

The Track: When I realized this was the track from the Verizon commercial I’ve seen at the movies for the last 2 months, I almost shut it off. But I lingered. It turns out the worst part of the song is that keyboard intro before the bass really drops in. The beat is courtesy of The Runaways and not Timbaland. No guest verse, no vocoder, no screechy notes, no skits, no dance breakdown, none of that stuff. It is listenable, and so far, I haven’t noticed the severely flawed logic present in other current hits such as Danity Kane’s Damaged. Love it or hate it - prepare to hear this in the club all effing summer long.


The Video: Whoever wrote the treatment for this video watches a lot of HBO. This is Million Dollar Baby meets Flashdance meets The Pussy Cat Dolls. Confused? There is boxing, a wardrobe stolen from Jennifer Beals’ closet, and wet hair / dancing that reminds me of Nicole Scherzinger. Perhaps she rubbed off on Keri during the Scream shoot?

It probably went something like this: Ok, We’ll dress up Keri in something totally backdrop-inappropriate and she will alternatively spar and makeout with her trainer; he must have tattoos. Oh - she knocks some other chick out too, and at the end she gets ugly highlights and leaves.

Keri’s silver tapsuit (is that what it’s called?) is as ridiculous as her interpretive dancing/voguing, and I swear I saw some Happy Hands Club choreography in there. It was kind of hard to watch this without wanting to laugh. Hilson does look good and is clearly doing the damn thing, but I’m not sold.

The Bottom line: Energy is better heard and not seen.

Flo Rida - I Will Not Ride Your Elevator

Published
by
neal
on February 20, 2008
in Music Videos
. 3 Comments

Flo Rida’s single Low is doing pretty well. I mean, these days having T-Pain’s vocoder-riding ass anywhere near your track seems to grant instant success. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that homeboy’s new single Elevator features non other than super producer Timbaland. As usual, I’ll give you the lowdown and examine the beat, video, content, and vocals.

The Beat: The intro piano line sounds like it was stolen from a daytime soap. Fortunately, it doesn’t last long and Timbaland promptly dispenses a Promiscuous Girl grade beat. The subtle synth line works really well against the snaps. Are you dancing yet?

The Video: Whoever styled this video has a great sense of humor. The elevator girls are well cast and the ‘hood rat’ has the best facial expressions. The dancers look like they got lost on the way to a Sir Mixalot / MC Hammer video shoot. The whole “Elevator” thing is funny without being overdone; Aerosmith would be proud. And did you catch the GMILF at the end?! Negatives: a little too much product placement (watch, Gucci bag, iPhone etc), celeb cameos (Rick Ross and like every other dude from MIA) were extensive, and too many shots of Flo Rida’s lame tattoo.

The Content: Basically Flo Rida is saying that regardless of what kind of girl you are. Golddigger, classy dyme, or hood rat - he can do you right. Does this sound like well worn territory to you? It is. Every rapper has one of these “I love all types of women” tracks. Remember Girls Girls Girls by JayZ or E.I. by Nelly? The major difference here is that Flo doesn’t use punchlines - just pop culture references like “drop that top model body.”

The Vocals: Flo can’t ride a beat like Nelly or JayZ, but, I’ll take homeboy over Akon, T-Pain, or Hurricane Chris anyday. Also, his delivery is pretty clear.

The Bottom Line: The hook is simple enough for your grandma, and maybe that’s enough to make this track a hit. A great video certainly can’t hurt either. Enjoy this one.