A new week means a new Chart Mondays, and I'm still weeks and weeks behind - I will catch up! I swear! On this backdated date, Eminem reached the top of the UK chart with "River" featuring Ed Sheeran; knocking off Ed Sheeran's "Perfect". At the time of this date, there was no music video to the UK number one song - it was released weeks later and I'll probably end up covering it in a future Chart Mondays review - so today's backdated Chart Mondays was open to the UK Top 10, and this song seems to be falling on the UK Chart, so I thought it was about time I covered this. Watch Rita Ora perform in various places in New York in what looks like a spontaneous recording in this music video for "Anywhere".
Rita Ora is currently one of the biggest female singers in the UK at the moment. She's managed to get all of her latest singles into the UK Top 10, which is certainly not easy to do nowadays. Her songs have been instant hits, and this all happened after she had a few legal troubles with her previous record label that could've turned into a #FreeKesha / #FreeJoJo movement if it hadn't all worked out in the end. She now has 12 UK top ten hits, which equals the record for the most UK top ten hits by a British female artist, equalling with Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark - it'll only take one more and she'll have the record all to herself. This song peaked at number two on the UK Chart and was written by Nolan Lambroza, Alexandra Tamposi, Alessandro Lindblad, Nicholas Gale, Andrew Wotman, Brian Lee, and Rita Ora.
Directed by Declan Whitebloom, the music video took 14 hours to shoot in various places in New York. The video is a pure performance piece with some iconic looks from Rita Ora throughout whilst she nails the energy for the song in every way.
Let's start this review about the fashion. Rita Ora manages to style every single bit of clothing in every way. Most of the jewellery was designed by Alexis Bittar, whilst most of the footwear was designed by Sophia Webster. As for the restaurant scene, the diners are real diners and the restaurant remained open during filming, allowing the diners to accidentally appear in the shots.
The whole clip embodies running away and escapism. What it is lacking is a love-interest, however, I'm going to imagine that her love-interest is actually behind the camera, shooting her being free. There's so much on-point fashion from different designers and in different styles that this blog will be way too long to list them all. Regardless, Rita Ora shines throughout, pulling off any sort of look possible.
Overall, this music video is good; however, it feels like it's a fashion-forward music video. This would be fine if the song itself was focused on fashion at all; instead, the song is about running away with a lover. Minus the lover, Rita Ora certainly isn't in LA, and she does act free as if she's been released from the binds of LA - we're going to ignore the fact that New York is on the other side of the US so it was totally a planned getaway. I also believe the viewers at home are the people she's running away with.
I absolutely adore this song and its music video. 4th Impact continues to bring their firehouse vocals, and this is definitely a track I could listen to over and over again. Their harmonies are always on point, and that's why I'm so happy I'm finally reviewing this track. Unfortunately, I am so far behind on my blog that I'm trying to go on a catch-up spree, which isn't really working all that well, and I seem to be getting more and more behind each day, but I will catch up, I swear I will! Watch 4th Impact perform their song on some stairs, in a recording booth, and in front of a metal gate as we watch clips from the film "Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes" in this music video for their song "It's Not The Same Anymore".
4th Impact are a Filipino girl group consisting of Almira Cercado, Irene Cercado, Mylene Cercado, and Celina Cercado. They are known for owning it on talent shows under various names. They came eighth on Superstar K6 and then came fifth on the twelfth series of The X Factor. They have since gone on to release their debut single "Unleash The Diva" and signed to US management. This is their follow-up single and is the soundtrack to Star Cinema movie "Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes". I previously wrote about this for CelebMix. It was written by Edgar Van Passel and Daniel Van Passel.
The music video is a typical soundtrack visual that is completely on-point in every single way. It has clips of the artist singing the song and clips of the film in extra promotion - which is exactly what we need.
To be fair, the best thing about this music video is that we understand the plot of the film just from the clips shown. This is exactly what we expect to find in a soundtrack music video. If you understand what is going on, without any major twists being exposed, then the editors have done a brilliant job of creating a music video, and that's exactly what has happened here.
Then there's 4th Impact's performance, and gosh do they bring it - nothing new there. They bring it, especially from the clips in the studio and in front of the metal gate. The clips on the stairs are fire in every way; however, we certainly miss their dancing, regardless of the passion they flood this song with.
Overall, this music video is almost perfection. Unfortunately, there are some editing problems, mainly with the film clips having the audio on. I understand that in some of the clips, they wanted to get the humour across; however, without subtitles, people other than Filipinos will understand these jokes. I truly believe that this would've worked so much better without the audio from the film clips.
I actually thought I had already written about this music video for my blog, so I was surprised to find out that I hadn't; hence why I'm making up for it right now by reviewing it. I literally cheered on Adore Delano during her RuPaul's Drag Race Season, although Bianca Del Rio certainly deserved that crown; regardless, I am happy she got into the top three. Then she returned for All Stars season two and she decided it wasn't for her. I hope one day she does decide to give it another shot and take that crown. For now, we can just marvel at her in her music videos. Watch Adore Delano be a baseball player whilst performing in the locker room and the showers in this music video for "Negative Nancy".
Adore Delano, real name Daniel Noriega, is a drag queen who appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race season six. Beforehand, Daniel Noriega appeared on the seventh season of American Idol, where he was eliminated during the top 16. Now he's a drag queen who does rock music, and we love Adore Delano for it, that's for sure. She released her debut album in 2014 and followed it up with a second in 2016. Then her third was released in 2017, with this song being the first to be released from the "Whatever" LP.
The music video was directed by Ben Simkins. Adore Delano looks on point throughout the entire clip, looking stunning as a baseball player. The visual also stars Chuck Roy, Henry Bae, Bryan Meza, Yvie Oddly, Sid Darling, Stevie-Ray Vance, Nichole Martinez, Karly Porter, Cameron Sprenger, Mike Temple, Emma Meeks, Jacob Meeks, John Miller, Ajay Davis, and Ethan Hsieh.
Starting it all off is Chuck Roy with the blow of his whistle. He's clearly the baseball coach, although he doesn't seem all that strict and only acts it. To the group, he shouts: "Line up buttercups. This little team of lovable losers are better at handling your johnsons than you are at sporting bat."
The music then kicks in and Adore Delano picks her team. This is then intercut with various performance scenes, some are from the locker rooms, and also from the caged waiting area. She really nails the performance piece, giving it all she has got to the camera and showing off how talented she really is. She has passion in her eyes from the get-go whilst still bringing the relaxed style of her drag.
Then there's the baseball side of things, her team are a killer, bringing out all the stops to win the game, until the very end when Adore Delano gets angry at a not-so-great throw. And I certainly can't end this review without commenting on the shower scene; although, I'm not quite sure what to say about it. She acts sexily towards the camera and gives it all that she has got, and gosh does it pay off.
Overall, this music video is on point all the way through. However, I am missing the relation to the song; I have no idea how this links in with the lyrics at all. Regardless, I could so watch this over and over again; I am hoping that Adore Delano's music gets bigger and bigger in years to come, and soon enough she'll be an international music chart sensation.
Not much choice for today's backdated new release, so I decided to go with one of my favourites even though it wasn't technically released on this date; instead, it was released a few days earlier. I did write up an article about it for CelebMix, which was to be expected. Antonia has been on form lately, especially in Romania, and I'm excited to see what the future brings - hopefully, a new album as we certainly need a new one from her. Watch Antonia and Connect-R perform this collaboration with all the heart and emotion it deserves, while we watch a narrative couple take some time apart from each other, finally ending it in this music video for "Adio".
Antonia, full name Antonia Iacobescu, is one of the biggest female Romanian singers around. She went international in her early career but now she's gone back to her home-country-roots by singing in Romanian and it's been fairing well for her, gaining chart hits in that country and millions of YouTube views. She hasn't released an album since her debut in 2015 so we really need a new Antonia album, that's for sure. This song features Connect-R, real name Ştefan Mihalache, who is a Romanian hip-hop artist. He was originally a part of R.A.C.L.A. before he went after a solo career, becoming a recognised figure in Romanian music. This song was written by Alexandru Cotoi and Ştefan Mihalache.
This music video was directed by Khaled Mokhtar - someone who is certainly making his name known in the Romanian music video industry. This is both a narrative and a performance visual, although there's not much to the former and not much to the latter, either.
Let's start with the story side. We watch a man and a woman finish their argument and decide they need some alone time. This is clear from the get-go and their time apart makes them realise that they need this to become a permanent thing; hence the upsetting ending. It completely relates to the song, and the actors put in a lot of skill to display the character's feelings. However, there's not enough to show us and we don't quite know where the argument came from or what it was about.
As for the performance side, Connect-R is pretty emotionless, which is quite surprising considering he wrote the song. He's not much of an expressive performer, and I was expecting him to deliver. His style is on form though. As a whole, he is a complete opposite to Antonia. She knows how to bring it in a music video, and that's exactly what she does. She's connected with the song and now she wants all the viewers to connect too. Thing is, her style is off-point. I know wet hair is in, but it actually looks greasy making her less appealing; and, her coat may be a nice colour, but it doesn't allow her to release much of her typical energy.
Overall, I'm not sure what to make of this music video. The basis and the concept are brilliant and it should've been an easy top mark from me; however, both sides of this music video has its flaws. If only this was better.
Time for my backdated Thursday Revisit, and how do I only just know this song, especially since it hit number one in the UK? Like, seriously? Most UK number ones I know off the top of my head, especially in the 00's when the chart was practically my life, and yes I do keep up with it now, but I don't care for it as much as I used to (because streaming has messed it up - but let's not go there); but this song only just slightly rings a bell. I know I was never into Ja Rule, R. Kelly, or Ashanti at this time, but this song sure is on fire which completely explains why it hit the top spot. Watch Ja Rule, R. Kelly, and Ashanti team-up and present their performance energy whilst there's inclusion of half-naked women in this music video for the UK number one song "Wonderful".
Ja Rule, real name Jeffrey Atkins, hit the height of his fame back in the 00's. This song is one of his biggest, especially in the UK which is his only number one, to-date. The song did well around the world, but most countries favoured his other hits such as "Always On Time" and "Mesmerize", both of which feature Ashanti - just like this song. R. Kelly has been a prominent force in the music industry for a number of years, his full name is Robert Kelly. He hit it big with "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Ignition (Remix)" which has truly implanted him into the history of music in every way. Then there's Ashanti, full name Ashanti Douglas, who pretty much helped Ja Rule turn his songs into hits. She then went into the film industry, before working on new music which didn't reach many people, unlike her previous efforts. All three of these acts need to make a return to mainstream charts around the world, with the right song, I'm sure they will. This song was written by Robert Kelly, Jeffrey Atkins, Irving Lorenzo, and K. Smith.
The music video was directed by Hype Williams, and I am not that impress. It's just another typical hip-hop and R&B infused music video that we've seen time and again. It does trick us into thinking it's a performance piece visual, but then the half-naked women come in with very little connection to the song.
I actually don't get this at all, like they are singing about wishing they had true love and not quite knowing if the woman they are with (or in the case of this music video - women they are with) actually loves them. They're questioning whether she would still be there if they didn't have all the money, cars and jewels. If they're referring to the women in this music video, with bodies like that, I very much doubt they'd stick around if you had no money. Although, it is possible as true love does come in all sorts of forms.
Overall, Ashanti doesn't add much to the video, although her vocals stun us all on the song. The lyrical content is engaging, real, and rich; it's not a surprise that it became a hit. However, I am disappointed by the music video, they definitely could've added a bit more, and R. Kelly's rap scene sure looks like there was originally a bigger narrative - if only there was.
