Back to Beyonce's childhood home of Houston where there's not many choices: Drug dealing, stripping. Being an Angel? Not quite so lucrative on those mean streets.
The song title "Blow" could bring to mind Boogie Nights or '80s rock decadence, so why not combine both vibes with a Roll Bounce skate extravaganza that also makes a detour into funk rock histrionics.
You could describe this as a moonlight beach stroll with her husband Jay Z, but it's really the bathing suit competition for this beauty competition known as the music industry.
And, look: There's that beauty pageant trophy again...
Is it a hotel? Some moneyed old hollywood pleasure dome? A bordello? All good questions. What's very clear, however, is that Beyonce is a willing participant as director Jonas Akerlund takes us through this creepiness and eroticism that drives the video.
Beyonce's Visual Album kicks off with "Pretty Hurt," drawing upon memories of childhood beauty pageants, but with a specific focus on the forced smiles, forced diets and other pressures. Eventually it all comes to a head for Miss Third Ward with pageant host Harvey Keitel.
It takes balls to release something this ambitious on Friday the 13th. Or rather, it takes Beyonce.
Beyonce's fifth album, Beyonce, arrives today without forewarning, without any formal pre-promotion, and without any leaks. How sly was the release? She hasn't even mentioned it on Twitter — or anything, for that matter since mdi-August.
It's a seismic release that upends nearly every rule held sacred in the music business-as-usual:
It's technically not a music video. But it's Beyonce performing the bulk of new song "Standing On The Sun" and it's directed by music video fave Jonas Akerlund. And that's without even mentioning how little the diva is wearing here (which is all the more ironic since it's meant to sell clothing).
Even if "Embrace your past, but live for now" feels like a generic tagline some Mad Man has been pitching for years until Pepsi decided to drink the Kool-Aid (I mean, soda), it makes for an excellent Beyonce commercial that has her literally confronting her music past. All the old Bey' looks are nailed perfectly, which is no surprise, since spot director Jake Nava also directed "Single Ladies," "Crazy In Love" and several other videos for the pop music megastar.
strong>Beyonce on Beyonce? HBO scores yet another great music documentary with Beyonce: Life Is But A Dream, in which the pop star both directs and executive produces what's billed as an intimate look at her life, promising "raw, unprecedented" access...
