A super-sweet, slo-motion black-and-white video that is reminiscent of “7 Seconds”? That’s “Crush” by newcomer Yuna featuring why-doesn’t-he-make-more-music guy Usher.
Is Wale ready to settle down and take the plunge? See him channel his inner Benjamin Braddock — sorry, no Anne Bancroft seduction here — as we see one of the smoothest-looking wedding ceremonies on film in a while. From The Album About Nothing - the opening with Jerry Seinfeld's voice: highly intentional.
If the inaugural YouTube Music Awards had a "let's put on a show" — or, to quote Bill O'Reilly, "Fuck it, we'll do it live!" — vibe, then the follow-up finds the massive video/web site playing to their strengths and skipping the live show in favor of a deluge of specially commissioned videos by creative musicians and directors.
First up is this Petros clip for Martin Garrix, where the club DJ plays a lowly towelboy trying his darndest to catch the eye of a stuck-up guest at a very uptight country club. It's a losing proposition, until he conjures more than a little magic to seal the deal.
Usher channels Michael Jackson in this performance/party clip — featuring Nicki Minaj and Pharrell Williams — that comes to an end when his world gets turned upside-down by a woman.
There's so much magnetism here that the opening visual gambit pales in comparison to all that follows with Usher flexing, stripping, dancing, drumming and nailing an uncanny combination of vintage Al Green (circa shirtless Greatest Hits) and Michael Jackson footwork.
And to guarantee some cross-appeal, there's a parade of beautiful women with just as much a fixation on lips and tongues as you'd expect for a song about, er, kissing.
