I am still behind on my blog, and it's all CelebMix's fault for being slow, it's Fergie's fault for dropping a new music video each day, and recently, it's INNA's fault for dropping a new promotional single a day. Regardless, I'm determined to catch up on my blog, eventually - I will catch up, I promise. So, here is another Chart Mondays, backdated to 20 November 2017, where Camila Cabello is still at number one with "Havana" featuring Young Thug - she's still at the top spot right now - so it opens the top ten to my review, and Mabel has been inside for some time, and is at number ten on this day, about to drop out fully. Watch Mabel and Kojo Funds dance in a low-light club as they perform their collaborative song "Finders Keepers".
Mabel, full name Mabel McVey, is a Swedish singer who was born in Spain, and currently lives in the UK. She is the daughter of Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVey. She has released mixtapes, EPs, and various singles, clearly leading up to an album, eventually. This song is her only hit to date, although I reckon she'll have another one as the years go by. She's confident, sassy, and clearly in love with her music and we get all that from this clip alone. I definitely suggest you keep an eye on Mabel as she builds up her career. The song features Kojo Funds, who is an emerging rapper from London. He's definitely creating his own waves in the industry, collaborating with some of the best artists. I reckon we'll be hearing from him a lot more in the future. The song was written by Mabel McVey, Jordan D. Reid, Marlon Roudette, Errol Bellot, and Steven Marsden.
Directed by Savanah Leaf, this music video is a pure performance visual that contains a lot of dancing. It has a current grime feel to it, and the club sure emulates that in every way.
There really isn't a lot going on in the visual. Mabel brings it when she's singing the song, but she looks like she's more interested in clubbing and dancing with the dancers and Kojo Funds, rather than actually sending the song out to the viewers in the visual.
The dancing is freestyle throughout with no choreography whatsoever, it's not impressive and doesn't bring anything to the table. It's all relaxed and just comes off simple. I feel some clips are repeated, and there's just nothing to this. Kojo Funds adds great energy at the start of the video, but it's just not enough.
I've kind of had an Alex Aiono addiction on my blog recently since I went to see him live at his London gig for CelebMix. So, I thought I might as well continue reviewing his music videos, especially since he impressed at the O2 Academy 2 Islington when I was there. He didn't sing this song, or maybe he did and I didn't clock it. Either way, I love this song and music video, it has an addicting side to it the more you listen. Watch Alex Aiono perform this track whilst two sets of dancers are controlled by Feder in this music video for "Lordly".
Feder, real name Hadrien Federiconi, is a French DJ who has had a few successful hits, this track totally being one of them, although it's his debut "Goodbye" featuring Lyse that really launched him and gave him his first international hit. He's certainly one to keep your eye on as he brings out more addicting tracks that we all can't get enough of. The feature on this song is Alex Aiono, who has pretty much been making waves within the music industry. He's prepared to release a fully-fledged global hit, one that's clearly on the cards soon enough - especially with his massive following and considering the awesome songs he has dropped to date. This song did manage to chart in many countries. It was written by Hadrien Federiconi and Tienus Konijnenburg.
Directed by Kristian Young, this music video is quite theatrical - much like the backing track of this song. It definitely has a dark theme going on, especially since Feder acts as quite an evil character, controlling two sets of contemporary dancers.
It's almost as if the dancers are battling it out to win some sort of prize, and during some of the scenes, it looks like Feder has to choose between them. Regardless he is definitely controlling them with his writing, or spinning of a coin, or via the cards at the start. Once the coin stops spinning, the dancers all fall to the floor.
The contemporary dancing is on point throughout, with all four dancers impressing to no end. The routine is mighty complex and easily emulates the beat of the track. As for Alex Aiono, he brings quite a relaxed energy to his performance piece, which is a contrast to the dancers, and slightly disappointing.
Overall, this music video would've been much better if it had made a little bit more sense. It's like they've built this entire concept but not revealed it so the viewers are left confused. It's a solid track though and one that I'll definitely be listening to again and again.
There is so much going on in this music video, you have to do your best not to blink. I've been meaning to review this visual for a while now since Dinah Jane is my favourite Fifth Harmony member - although I do love each of the girls and will support all of them on their solo releases and collective releases. This song is quite the collaboration, and the song sure is fire in every way. It's a real shame that it didn't blow up internationally, as it is definitely worthy of being a global hit. Watch RedOne, Daddy Yankee, French Montana & Dinah Jane present Morocco in all it's beauty as we watch two female characters use teleporting bracelets that send them to various places in Morocco in this music video for "Boom Boom".
RedOne, real name Nadir Khayat, is probably most known for his songwriting collaborations with Lady Gaga, is there any way we can say his name without singing it the way we've heard it over the years? He has since gone into releasing his own music, this song becoming his official second single. He always manages to turn it into a massive collaboration. His debut was "Don't You Need Somebody" featuring Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah, and Shaggy. This one is a collaboration with a whole ray of artists. Daddy Yankee, real name Ramón Rodríguez, is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Puerto Rica singer-songwriter. He's had phenomenal international success and he'll always be a force to be reckoned with. His biggest single is "Gasolina" back in 2004, but he's become popular all over again with the Luis Fonsi collaboration on "Despacito". "Boom Boom" also sees French Montana and Dinah Jane on this track. The former's real name is Karim Kharbouch. He went viral with his hit single "Unforgettable" featuring Swae Lee, since then he has been releasing some great songs and killer collaborations. The latter's full name is Dinah Jane Hansen. She's one-fourth of girl group Fifth Harmony. She previously released a solo single before her days on The X Factor and in the girl group, titled "Dancing Like A White Girl". She's certainly has a massive career ahead of her. This song samples Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" hence some of the writing credits. "Boom Boom" was written by Nadir Khayat, Ramón Ayala, Edwin Serrano, Timothy Thomas, Theron Makiel Thomas, Jakke Erixson, Yann Destagnol, Roman Tranchert, Bernard Edwards, and Nile Rodgers.
Directed by Saïd C. Naciri, this music video is both performance and narrative based. We follow two female characters, played by Amanda Cerny and Abla Essofi, as they find two bracelets that allow them to teleport to various places in Morocco. The narrative is full-on and cleverly includes the performance piece as part of the background with intercut scenes.
It opens up with Amanda Cerny and Abla Essofi outside Red Coast University Los Angeles. They put on the bracelets and teleport themselves and the carriage to Marrakech, Morocco, where doors open to display RedOne starting the song off with a load of female companions behind him.
This is where one of the biggest name intros starts as each act calls out their name for the track, with intercut scenes of various locations in Morocco. The party is in full swing as the names are called out, and as the first verse starts, our two main characters decide to bail, using the bracelets to travel to Chefchaouen where Daddy Yankee is performing in an alleyway, they stay there for a second before they decide to ride on top of a taxi that is full of Guess product placement.
As Daddy Yankee wraps up his verse, the taxi puts the break on and the girls go flying. They use the bracelets, quickly, and instead, they land on a beach in Cabo Negro. A full-on beach party is in full swing with RedOne performing the chorus of the song. After having a great time at the beach party, they use the bracelets again, just in time for the next verse.
Amanda Cerny and Abla Essofi teleport to the streets of Tétouan where groups of horsemen are riding towards them as French Montana sings his chorus on a rooftop accompanied by RedOne and Dinah Jane - where Daddy Yankee is, who knows? Maybe he's one of the horsemen? It looks weird to have three out of the four singers on the rooftop. As French Montana's verse ends, the horses are nearly on top of our characters and they teleport themselves and the horses away from Tétouan.
The two women end up inside a car, which parks outside the Royal Mansour Marrakech hotel. They get out of the car and are greeted by a huge lion and RedOne - once again, it's totally time for the chorus. Another party ensues, RedOne sure knows how to put on a party, please invite me next time. This is a defining scene as during the chorus the dancers are all in black tie clothing, but then the dance beats kick in, they transform to sand particles and reemerge in blue dance-wear.
Our two main characters look up to find hot air balloons, and soon use the bracelets to teleport inside one. This is where Dinah Jane comes in, she's floating in her own hot air balloon, giving off some much-needed female vocals over the Moroccan Sahara. Down below, RedOne and Daddy Yankee ride beach buggies over the sand as the latter sings the rest of the verse.
The final scene of the song itself is a night beach party in Merzouga. All the artists, the dancers, and Amanda Cerny & Abla Essofi perform around a wood campfire. But, that's not the end, our two main characters arrive back outside the university, where a lecturer comes out telling them to get back to class or they will fail. He's also not impressed with the clothes they are wearing - they are the ones they wore to the Royal Mansour Marrakech hotel. The girls decide to use the bracelets again, and the video ends with the hook of the song and various snapshot videos of the various places that they visited in Morocco.
This music video is amazing from start to finish. They have literally showcased Morocco in every single way. It may not relate all that well with the song itself, but who cares when they've created this awesome visual? All the artists bring energetic performance vibes, with each one making their presence known in the music video, not one of them is overshadowed - although I would've liked to have seen Dinah Jane a little more, hell I would've liked her to have sung more of the song too. The dancers were incredible in every way, with the choreography lit - something I want to totally learn. This music video is just WOW!
This hot new collaboration was released on the 17 November 2017, and therefore is acting as my New Release for this backdated date. It's quite the team-up, one we all can't help but love, especially since Latin music is extremely popular right now. The song is dead catchy with ex-summer vibes displayed throughout; however, it feels like they've transformed the track into a eurodance anthem and it just feels like it's trying that little bit too hard; regardless it is fire! Watch Luis Fonsi and Demi Lovato come together in this fired-up dance music video which sees them perform together for the song "Échame La Culpa".
Luis Fonsi, real name Luis López-Cepero, is from Puerto Rico and is best known for his worldwide hit "Despacito" which was a collaboration with Daddy Yankee, and was later remixed with vocals from Justin Bieber. It blew up all around the world, grabbing many number ones in various countries. It has certainly launched Luis Fonsi as an international artist, one we're all keeping our eyes on. He has been in music since the late 90's which is truly remarkable and shows that perseverance really does lead to international fame. In comparison, Demi Lovato has certainly not been in music for as long, but she is one of the rising female artists in the world, one we're all aware of and constantly listening to, so this duet was definitely the perfect collab. It just feels like it's been released a little too late, Latin music always brings the summer sunshine, but it's now winter, and this doesn't have the winter-feel to it. In English "Échame La Culpa" means "Put The Blame On Me". It was written by Luis Fonsi, Alejandro Rengifo, Mauricio Rengifo, and Andrés Torres.
Directed by Carlos R. Perez, the music video has a lot of Latin vibes to it, working well with Spanglish song. Demi Lovato's clipped Spanish isn't so bad but after a few plays, you realise she's not fluent in Spanish at all - which we already knew.
This is more of a performance piece more than anything. Luis Fonsi and Demi Lovato start off with intercut scenes, she's in a bedroom, lying on a bed, whilst he's in an alleyway, walking down some stairs - he looks hot in those trousers whilst she looks hot throughout the entire visual. They talk on the phone, saying "Hey", before hitting the club where they dance the night away.
Their performance pieces are on fire, and you can expect an entertaining show with both these amazing artists on stage at a gig. Luis Fonsi brings it a little more than what Demi Lovato does, and he manages to get more video time. The elevator sure is a main visual that we presume takes us to the club, although we're not sure how Demi Lovato gets there.
Overall this music video would've worked a lot better if there had been a narrative or we had at least seen how Demi Lovato went from the bedroom to the club. She seems awkward in her dancing at the venue whilst everyone else bats out brilliant choreography. She does bring it to the performance piece, though. As for Luis Fonsi, he practically saves the whole video from completely falling apart.
Time for my Thursday Revisit and there wasn't much choice this week; so I decided on this infamous music video by Avicii, as it was one of his first ever music videos, and it is the song that pretty much helped to launch him after the court battle against Leona Lewis and her label Syco which is owned by Simon Cowell. This song is the vocal edit of what originally was known as "Penguin". It's dead catchy which is no surprise since it is an Avicii track. Watch a couple spend time together before the woman leaves and walks away; the guy follows her and she shoots him in this surprising music video for Avicii's "Fade Into Darkness".
Avicii, real name Tim Bergling who is also known as Tim Berg, was just a rising DJ when he released this song back in 2011. Originally called "Penguin", the song samples "Perpetuum Mobile" by Penguin Cafe Orchestra - that was the song that Avicii expected Leona Lewis and Syco to use for their song "Collide"; imagine his surprise when they actually used his song "Penguin" and didn't credit him. Legal action ensued and they soon came to an agreement, and music was the answer. "Collide" became a collaborative hit for both artists. This song was released beforehand; it features uncredited vocals by Andreas Moe. The song was written by Tim Bergling, Arash Pournouri, Simon Jeffes, John Martin, Michel Zitron, and Måns Wredenberg.
The music video was directed by Tobias Hansson & Karl Aulin. It's a fully narrative video that easily represents the song in every way.
A man and a woman enjoy themselves in a bedroom together, having fun, and cuddling. However, it's not all fun and games, as the woman wakes up, dons her jacket, leaves a note, and walks out. He wakes up to find her gone, comes across the letter, and goes in search of her.
As the music plays on, we watch her walk with determination, bustling into people without caring and the lights on the path all go out as she walks past - she literally is fading into darkness. There's clearly something she's not happy about, and when the guy catches up with her, she pulls out a gun and shoots him dead.
People have suggested she's a female assassin who fell for her target - which is definitely plausible. The overall visual totally works with the song and has a great ending that people don't expect at all. To me, the song is lyrically more catchy than "Collide", I'd rather listen to this than Leona Lewis' vocal track.
