My biblical game isn't strong enought to tell you whether a burning bush is a good or a bad omen, but I know for a fact that one doesn't carry a shovel through a deserted field in order to build a sand castle. Bad shit is definitely afoot in this latest video from The Weeknd and director Grant Singer, where a premature burial is just the start of a dark and tense night.
Yes, this video can be easily described as "The Weeknd on fire," but that's only if you're willing to miss the larger point about the lengths an artist must go to appease the masses.
Speaking of which, this song is a star-making breakthrough smash.
Don't mess with that nightmarish gang of marauding pop-n-lockers who look like the satanic counterpart to Jabbawockeez — unless you happen to be Pusha T or Dennis Rodman, who might actually be the same person.
Nobody walks away unscathed from a car crash like this... even if it seems like The Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye seems like he's well on his way to a safe spot.
Punk rockers probably shouldn't age gracefully, but such is (debatably) the case with Mau Maus singer Rick Wilder in this portrait of the anarchist as a very old man for Ariel Pink. Wilder still looks the part — think Johnny Rotten, but older and skinnier — and still clings to his punk dreams, but his days are mostly spent just scraping by and surviving.
What if that 2001 monolith touched down in the middle of a nicely woozy parking lot rap video? It would be awesome, obviously, which is the case with director Grant Singer's video for Travi$ Scott, Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan.
If you're an American male of a certain age then you probably remember trolling the mall for chicks, striking out, and then wasting some time and quarters at the arcade. So it goes for the gameless and hopeless Ariel Pink and his buddy in this video...
Controversy seems to have a way of finding Sky Ferreira.
While I thought the uproar about "I Blame Myself" would come from her indie base questioning the shoppable aspects of the video — nearly every garment and accessory in the video is available for purchase via online retailer Ssense, and saying the stuff is expensive would be an understatement — it instead comes from people claiming the urban hood setting and gang member dance troupe are racist.
There's a lengthy response from Ferreira on her Facebook, plus lots and lots of comments ranging from lengthy well-reasoned interpretations to "fuck u youre dumb" stuff, which is the kind of discourse one expects online.
You know I'm a sucker for any clip with video static... Director Grant Singer uses analog tools to get a perfect blend of tawdry/sexy for Sky Ferreira who sounds/looks like a star even when obscured amongst all the flashes and strobe
