Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Aventura's "Dile Al Amor" Video

This song has been in heavy rotation for a few months now and I just knew it was going to be a single from the moment I first listened to it. The video is your typical Aventura video (pretty girl, silly love story plot & random scenes of the group dancing) with a little twist. The song should be another huge hit for them as it follows in the footsteps of some of their previous smash singles.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Rihanna's "Russian Roulette" & "Wait Your Turn" Videos

Russian Roulette



I know I'm a little late but who cares. Rihanna has released the highly anticipated video for Russian Roulette, and boy oh boy is it good! While the actual plot is up for interpretation, the visuals, setting & mood of the video are extremely dark & almost psychotic, and though I was left a bit confused upon watching the video, I was definitely intrigued. The song is stellar. The video is fantastic. Yes, we've seen Rihanna do the whole dark & twisted videos before (Disturbia, Run This Town) but she does it so damn good and convincing each and every single time. Anthony Mandler (the director) and Rihanna have an excellent working relationship, which is evident by the great quality of videos they've made.

Wait Your Turn



In this industry there are people who can saaaang and then there are those who can't. Many would say falls somewhere in the middle. But at the end of the day, whether you can sing, sang or not, what separates you from the rest is how good of an artist you are, and how well you can work with what you got. Some of the most "talented" artists of our time aren't vocally talented. Yet, they managed to stay relevant and sell one multi-platinum record after another due to their rare ability to reinvent themselves, take risks and remain interesting to the public. I think Rihanna has that ability and if she plays her cards right, she will be well on her way to reaching the level of superstardom that so many artists work so hard for, but never achieve.

Rihanna's new album has leaked, and based on the reviews I've read so far, she has taken a huge risk by taking a completely different direction from the mainstream-friendly, dance-heavy pop songs featured on Good Girl Gone Bad to this new dark, angry & depressive sound. And judging by the way things are looking, this new direction is about to pay off.

Alicia Key's "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart" Video

Apparently today everyone & their momma is releasing a new video. The latest is from Alicia Keys and let me just say that this is my current anthem. I play this freakin' song EVERY SINGLE DAY. Geez. It's been a while since I've heard a song that I've connected with on some emotional level. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw that the video had finally premiered?! Err.

Why, oh why, must you release these shitty ass videos? Whatever happened to videos like Fallin and If I Ain't Got U? Can someone explain to me the concept of this video? She walks down the street, revives a dog, rides a purple-laser-shooting motorcycle, flies to the roof of some building (looking quite stunning, I must add), flies back down, touches some guy's face and then rides away on her motorcycle; the end. This is the second lackluster video in a row Alicia. Another one & I'm out.

Shakira's "Give It Up To Me" Video



The video won't embed, so click [here] to watch it.

This has got to be one of her worst videos ever. The only thing I liked about the video was the choreography, the dancing and how beautiful she looked. Other than that, it doesn't looked like she had much of a budget to shoot the video. Lil Wayne's appearance wasn't needed and I really don't know how I feel about this song, as it sounds more like something off of Nelly Furtado's Loose than anything on Shakira's long and diverse catalog. If She Wolf didn't achieve the level of success it was supposed to achieve, then I don't think Give It Up To Me has any chance in hell.

Check out Shakira's international second single, Did It Again, which is a much better song and has an excellent video.

Beyonce's "Video Phone" Video Featuring Lady Gaga (HQ)

Finally! Finally Beyonce. You have delivered a high quality video, up there with some of your best. Yes, I like it THAT much. Part of it feels like Check on It Part Deux, while the other half evidently pays tribute to the Kill Bill films. Whatever the case may be, I think the video is great. I know that opinions, especially when it comes to Beyonce, vary tremendously. Some said that Single Ladies was one of Beyonce's worst videos ever & look at the phenomenon it became. This video (which was directed by Hype Williams by the way) should help the single achieve some moderate level of success, at the least. Lady Gaga's appearance is cute but that's all it is. I don't really see the purpose of her being in the video (or song for that matter)other than to garner a lot of publicity for this A star collabo. I'm interested to see what Lady Gaga's video for Telephone (her next single) is going to be like as Beyonce is going to be playing in HER field.

Not much else to say. The video is hot. The song is a banger. The song/video's vibe takes me back to the B'Day era, when I used to jam to the likes of Kitty Kat and Get Me Bodied. If all goes well, this song will follow their footsteps and become another one of Beyonce's many, many, anthems. Uh uhhhhhhh...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Beyonce & Lady Gaga's "Telephone" and "Video Phone Remix"



The day has arrived. Well not quite, the video hasn't premiered yet, but the songs have! I have not only one, but TWO new leaked Beyonce & Lady Gaga collaborations that are going to be tearing up the charts in a few weeks. I am LOVING the Video Phone Remix, and judging by the (new) breaks in the song, the video is going to be EPIC. As for Telephone, I can see why they're going with this as the next single for Lady Gaga's upcoming re-release of The Fame. Complete and total hotness; the industry's two biggest divas unite for total and utter epicness. Shit.

Telephone
[Download]

Video Phone Remix
[Download]

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Lady Gaga's New "Bad Romance" Video

Brilliant. The fashion in this video is impeccable & the dancing is so weird it's intriguing. Man, this woman is unstoppable. All of her videos have been on point, her singles have all gone top five and her album is great and the re-release is shaping up to be even better. I'm hooked on Gaga right now, the woman is on fire! The video is hot! And while Paparazzi is still my favorite Lady Gaga video, this isn't too far behind. Job well done to Lady Gaga and the director, Francis Lawrence. Lady Gaga is delivering some of the best videos I have seen in years. Brilliant.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Rihanna's "Wait Your Turn" Single Cover



The photo was shot by Ellen Von Unwerth. Fierce!

Nelly Furtado's New "Mas" Video

I love it. I love the song, I love the video, I love it all. I love the continuity from her previous video, Manos Al Aire. Shoot, I think I'm going to have to buy this album. Job well done Nelly Furtado, you stay impressing me.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Beyonce Performs "Sweet Dreams" at the EMAs

Great performance! About time she performed the song. This is what she should've done at the VMAs. It was a bit short though but still hot! Now where the hell is that Video Phone video that was supposed to premiere today? Mhmph.

Rihanna Speaks on Chris Brown Abuse

She seemed genuinely honest and sad. And I liked her comment about looking at the relationship/incident from a 3rd person perspective, because love can indeed be blind. I wish her all the best and I'm happy that she's finally talking about the situation.

Trey Songz's "I Invented Sex" Video

Oh, my, God. This man is going to make me go crazy. Now THAT is what I call a sexy ass video. Wooof! Lord have mercy. Take a look for yourself!

The video was directed by Yolande Geralds.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Jay-z's "Empire State of Mind" Video

Jay-z has a very impressive catalog of videos and this one isn't any different. The video, which was directed by Hype Williams, is great and brings me back to the classic Hip Hop videos of the 90's. The song is getting a bit played out for me but it's stellar nonetheless. I can't think of another rapper who's been out for as long as Jay-z and remained as consistent.

50 Cent's New "Baby By Me" Video Featuring Kelly Rowland

I really, really like this video! It's so simple and sexy. Kelly Rowland looks gorgeous and they both looked good together. As for the song itself, seems like 50 Cent has finally got himself another hit!