Another Inna music video I haven't reviewed and what better time to review it when I'm going to see her in Dublin, Ireland in a few days time. I literally can't believe it's this close. This was one of my favourite songs from her third album, and I used it as my ringtone on my phone for a while due to the amazing opening lyric. Inna proves she can dance in this performance-based music video for "In Your Eyes" that is extremely sexy and includes a visual of featured singer Yandel.
Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, is a Romanian female superstar, with a string of massive hits behind her. She's work with some of the biggest stars and has really made a name for herself. This song was the last single release from her third studio album "Party Never Ends". I sure hope she sings it at her Dublin gig in Ireland. The song features Yandel, real name Llandel Veguilla Malavé, who is from Puerto Rica. He has made his own name in Latin music, mostly as being part of a duo named Wisin & Yandel. This song was written by Steve Mac, Ina Wroldsen, and Llandel Veguilla.
Directed by Barna Némethi, this is another music video by Inna that doesn't have a lot to it. The video is another performance-based video, showing off her performance vibes. This definitely gets me excited to see her on Saturday, not going to lie; although not so keen on what she's wearing.
It's clear the team behind this music video went for sex appeal, in the hope that it will attract many male and the few female watchers to the video; especially since her top - do we even call it a top? It's just a piece of material wrapped around her - keeps moving. She almost falls out plenty of times. Yet, sex does sell and with a body like Inna's we can't really blame them.
The scenes give a chance to have a choreographed dance scene, but it's clear they never brought anyone in to do a segment, and so they look like unrehearsed dancers, who are freestyling and grooving to the song. Inna fully shows she can dance, which is something different for her, although if she were thrown a full choreography segment, it would have worked better.
As for Yandel, he comes off well, although his scene is intercut with scenes of Inna since she would appeal more to the audience viewing the video. As a whole, this could've looked a lot more professional, instead it just looks a little lost. There should've been a dance scene, but Inna still shows off her performance ability effortlessly.
Now before you all moan that I haven't tagged the featured artist, Kendrick Lamar, into this blog post, it's because this music video doesn't include his rap. Since Clean Bandit is still at the top of the UK Singles Chart in collaboration with Anne-Marie & Sean Paul with "Rockabye", it opens the top 10 for my Chart Mondays review. I chose this one because it's an extremely catchy song and the video is quirky and spoof funny. Maroon 5 dress as bugs, that humans are trying to catch and zap on a mobile app similar to Pokemon Go. Frontman Adam Levine falls for a woman in an orange costume who can fly in this video for "Don't Wanna Know".
Maroon 5 is a band we all know and love. They always have some of the best music videos and have really stood the test of time with their music and longevity. The band consists of Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, James Valentine, Matt Flynn, and PJ Morton. They've had various hits over the years, and this being in the UK Top 10 Singles Chart is another one to add to their collection. The song originally features a rap from Kendrick Lamar, real name Kendrick Duckworth. He is one of the biggest American rappers out at the moment, but surprisingly the song has omitted the rap from this music video. The song was written by Kendrick Lamar, Adam Levine, Benny Blanco, John Ryan, Jacob Kasher, Ammar Malik, Kurtis McKenzie, Jon Mills, and Alex Ben-Abdullah.
Directed by David Dobkin, the video is a comedic spoof of Pokemon Go. Whilst also relating to the song, it is definitely quirky. The video also has cameos from various stars including Sarah Silverman, Amanda Cerny, Shaquille O'Neal, Ed Helms, and Vince Vaughn.
The opening scenes show Adam Levine in his bug costume, which he wears throughout the video. He is missing his former lover, Sarah Silverman, who is displayed in a photograph. His costume is super cute, for sure.
The music kicks in as he drives around town, with clips of the other band members going about their day, all of which are dressed up in bright coloured bug-like costumes too.
Adam Levine's car comes to a stop at a crossing as he watches Ed Helms get chased by people with an app, which later zaps Ed Helms and he vanishes. Adam Levine gets out of his car and starts to run. At the same time, the other band members start to run. There are seven band members shown in the video, which means touring member Sam Farrar also appears in this video too.
Adam Levine manages to escape to a park, where he hides behind a tree until he comes across Amanda Cerny dressed as an orange. They get found by humans and she flies away, up into the air. This is where this narration ends and a new one picks up... Did Adam Levine get zapped? Or did he manage to run away? We may never know.
The new narration picks up with Adam Levine sunbathing in his bug costume beside his pool. A human jumps over the fence to try and zap him with the app, but Adam Levine zaps him right back; don't walk on a Pokemon's property or be prepared to be blown up!
The video continues with a party and the aftermath of the party. We watch as Adam Levine finally stumbles across the orange again, but she turns her back on him; how rude! At the end, we watch a café scene with Vince Vaughn as they chat about standing up for themselves.
The chopped up narrative is intercut with performance scenes, including a tour scene. Showing energy and their usual flare, Maroon 5 shine even when in their costumes. I like the director's comedic scene where he suggests the group should wear hats, but Adam Levine doesn't want to spoil his image, all the while dressed as a very cute animal!
Overall, this video is totally full and fun. They look exhausted being in those costumes. Adam Levine looks love lost which is totally good, but for the first time in a long time, the other band members manage to outshine the frontman. It's refreshing to see, but definitely not something I was expecting. The narrative is too separate for my liking, it doesn't quite flow and doesn't make complete sense. Yet, it's solid nonetheless.
Today, I let my iTunes choose a song, and as I played my music on shuffle, this one came on and I knew I had to review it's accompanying music video. It's a highly emotive song and effortlessly sung by the vocalist. It translated perfectly into a music video and definitely helps to inspire people globally. Released as a tribute to Paul Bäumer, one-half of Bingo Players, who died of cancer the year earlier; "Knock You Out" sees a girl train herself up to be stronger in the gym after she's had enough of her boyfriend beating her up.
Bingo Players is a one-man project consisting of DJ, Maarten Hoogstraten. Originally, a duo, Paul Bäumer died of cancer. The project continues because that was the latter's wishes. Unfortunately, this single didn't do quite as well as "Get Up (Rattle)" did, which was their last single as a duo. Even though this was released as a tribute to Paul Bäumer and even though this song is so catchy and emotive, it didn't get the recognition it definitely deserved. The vocalist on the song is Kim Viera; hailing from New York, she's building her own career. After singing a few cover songs, she has gone on to release them. The song was written by Maarten Hoogstraten, Magnus Beite, Mikkel Eriksen, Paul Bäumer, Sia Furler, and Tor Hermansen.
This narrative based music video shows a woman in an abusive relationship, attempting to make herself stronger so that she can leave him.
Relating to the song perfectly, it exactly translates the "My fight is won. Who needs a gun." lyrics, which is totally suggestive of where she is now compared to where she was back then.
Clips switch between the past and the present. In the past, we see her relationship turn abusive, where she gets knocked about. In the present, we watch her toughening up in the gym, as she learns how to fight and defend herself.
At the end, we see her meet up with a new guy, someone who takes her bag from her and clearly cares for her. We watch as they walk past her abusive ex-boyfriend. Her smirk suggests her confidence and proves that she knows he's missing out on her gorgeous self.
Full of uplifting confidence that will surely inspire many people in the world, both men and women. It really goes to show how a music video can make an inspirational impact on people globally. Might've been nice to see a performance piece cut between the scenes, but not at the loss of any of the visuals.
Since it's a week until I see Inna for the first time, I thought I'll review one of my favourite songs from her. I remember when this was released, and I loved the song so much. Not so keen on the sexualised music video, which we'll get to later, but the song is most definitely fire. Inna collaborated with Marian Hill for this catchy club song, with a fiery sexualised performance based music video.
Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, has had a long-lasting and worthy career to date, and it isn't stopping anytime soon. She may have disappeared from certain lights in certain countries, especially the UK, but that doesn't mean she isn't doing well for herself. She has a new album coming out, and I'm hoping she drops her new single before I set off to Ireland to see her on the 3 December 2016. This song features Marian Hill, a songwriting duo consisting of Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol. Upon release, they didn't help Inna promote the song; however, it wasn't an official collaboration, they just received featured credit because the song samples their song "Got It". The song was written by Ilsey Juber, Marcel Botezan, Radu Bolfea, and Sebastian Barac.
The video was directed by Michael Mircea, with intricate editing techniques which makes it quite artistic.
Inna performs with her usual vibes, she's definitely into the song and she works the camera. Her dancer, however, fails to give anything more to the music video. He feels more like a filler than anything else.
A few different outfits that certainly shows Inna's body. Yet the thing that steals the entire video is definitely the snake visual. A snake is tantalisingly dangerous, slithering over Inna.
The effects are intricate and artistic, from fire to smoke, from mirrored reflections to water illusions. This video attempted to make it more interesting, and yet fails to capture some of the audience. Considering Inna totally upped her game with her next music video: "Bop Bop", which is total fire; this one totally falls flat.
I have literally been waiting for this day to come, ever since Jordan Gray announced her debut single, and then later followed it up with a music video. I have refrained from reviewing it on my blog until today because I wanted it to be my New Release this week, and here it is. Jordan Gray looks amazing during a cis male-trans female love scene with Mickey Taylor; whilst performing "Platinum" in scenes including Billie Gold and Isabella Bliss.
Jordan Gray is known for being a contestant on the fifth series of The Voice UK. She made a name for herself as being the first trans to appear on The Voice in any series across the world. Unfortunately, none of the coaches turned for her, but one of Paloma Faith's acts dropped out and she had the ability to bring someone who didn't get any turns, she chose Jordan Gray. It didn't stop there, though, Jordan Gray progressed all the way to the semi-finals. This is her debut single and she is hoping for a good chart placement. It isn't doing so well, so help her out and buy "Platinum" on iTunes.
The music video is directed by Jak Kav. It features a short narrative with various performance pieces, which really showcases Jordan Gray as an artist.
The opening scene starts the narrative as we watch Jordan Gray in a love scene with male actor Mickey Taylor, who is obviously her love interest. It is the first time there has been a cis male-trans female love scene in a mainstream music video. They are tantalisingly sexy on the bed.
There are various short snippets of performance pieces, from Jordan Gray at the piano, as well as performing on a stage surrounded by blue lighting.
Later Isabella Bliss and Billie Gold sex up the video even more in a burlesque scene, which later transitions into a black and white car scene where Jordan Gray is in the front singing the song whilst Billie Gold and Isabella Bliss are passengers in the back.
If anything, this music video is extremely thought out, definitely showcasing Jordan Gray as an artist, all the while relating to the song in every way. This music video is confident, strong, and one that will be embedded in your mind so that you have to watch it again. Fierce and sexy, with an infectious voice, Jordan Gray is on her way to superstardom.
