Jahméne is back! With this new fire track that compliments his soulful voice perfectly. However with little promotion, and radio not really picking this up, he doesn't really stand a chance of charting next Friday. This X Factor runner-up has such a perfect voice, but it seems he's holding back on this track and the performance side of the video. Jahméne performs statically in this video for "Is This The Time", whilst the narrative excites and entertains by pausing a snapshot of life.
Let's be honest Jahméne Douglas should've won The X Factor series nine, and his vocals on this track just proves how much he deserves to do well in the music industry, yet his style and songs seem stuck in the past. This is not a current track, it's something that would've been released in the 90's or early 00's where this genre was popular. This is his first single from his upcoming second album, his first album hit number one on the UK albums chart, yet the singles from that album didn't fair well, with only his debut single charting titled "Titanium", a cover version of David Guetta & Sia's song "Titanium".
Directed by Mike Baldwin, the video has both a performance side and a narrative, as I mentioned earlier.
You would think his time on The X Factor would've boosted Jahméne's on-stage presence, and yet he is standing there like a statue. He has a slight confidence which he exposes during the big notes, but he goes back into his shy little self during the chorus and other parts of the verses. This is not what I'd like to see on stage. He needs to send out those all important performance vibes, but he doesn't seem to have any.
The narrative is detailed, taking a moment on the escalators where a man and woman cross paths, and there's an instant connection between the two. The escalators stop and he walks down them. A daydream state ensues where we watch his unsurety of whether to go after her, is it the right time or not?
I think it's clever, we've all passed a total stranger and considered them to be our future lover or a little bit of fun, but are they worth humiliation of rejection for? Confidence has always been a good thing in my book, and if you don't live for the moment, it'll never be the right time.
Personally, I think we pass many people who could potentially be 'The One', you just have to take the risk and find out. This music video, however, does the complete opposite, encouraging people to carry on with their lives, and the right person will finally come along. Yet if we all did that, then it means they'll never come along, because someone needs the confidence to take the first step.
Overall, this video is a high quality visual, yet it fails to entertain, questions whether confidence is good or not, and totally makes Jahméne static. Although the basic idea behind this video sounds good, it just fails in the visual aspect of things.
Not long until Big Brovaz, along with S Club and Booty Luv, will perform at The Nightingale Club in Birmingham, which I am totally excited for. This song is their biggest hit to date, and although I believe they could make a brilliant comeback if they tried, since this style of music is totally missing from the charts, especially since they were the gap in the music industry, and they totally still are; I doubt they will be reforming officially. So we are left to relive the good old days with their amazing singles! Big Brovaz ride a carousel as they describe their favourite things, what they want from a guy, and don't we all want expensive things?
Big Brovaz were a six piece band that consisted of Cherise Roberts, Nadia Shepherd, Dion Howell, John Paul Horsley (J-Rock), Tayo Aisida (Flawless) and Randy Jackson. They had various hits, but this is the one song that hit number two, just missing out on the top spot. The song is based upon the musical song "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music. In the original, Julie Andrews sings about simple things, whereas this one focuses on glamorous and expensive things, that the girls want. The song was written by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Cherise Roberts, Nadia Shepherd, John Paul Horsley, Dion Howell and Randy Jackson.
The music video has a Victorian freakshow vibe to it, that doesn't really fit with the whole song, unless you part relate it to the fact that back then guys had to court girls, and they had to buy them expensive things, to take them out etc.
They don't do much, apart from dance, ride the carousel and they have a slight performance piece.
I am unsure of the meaning behind the masks, but they definitely freak me out.
I would love a guy to court me, to buy me expensive things. Maybe I'm expecting too much nowadays. This music video is engaging and interesting, yet it's quite weird and scary. It fails to exactly relate, they could've worked with something so much better, and there's not a lot going on. This song was fire, but the video doesn't live up to it. Compared to "Nu Flow", this falls completely, and even though it was their biggest chart hit, it might have started their downfall.
As you can probably imagine, I literally cannot wait to see these live on 30 July. It's so close now, my childhood dreams will be coming true. This song is the sassy number that I loved. Booty Luv were releasing hit after hit after hit, unfortunately a second album never emerged, even though songs were released. This was their third single. Booty Luv attends an exclusive club, with their men. They add sassiness whilst on stage, as they watch their doppelgangers go after their boys. They soon see them off, don't mess with my man.
Booty Luv were created after the split of Big Brovaz. Consisting of Nadia Shepherd and Cherise Roberts, they covered some known songs and made them into club current hits, that slayed the dancefloors. This song is a cover of Lucy Pearl's song of the same name "Don't Mess With My Man". This version out-performed the original, chart wise. It was written by Raphael Saadiq, Dawn Robinson and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.
This music video, has a narrative with a performance piece enrolled within. Set inside a club, the girls play doppelgangers in this relatable but tongue-in-cheek music video.
This is classy, sexy, stylish, and over the top but in such a good and exciting way.
The narrative, follows Booty Luv as they attend a club, where they end up performing this song, leaving their men to watch in the crowd.
Then their counter-parts sneak into the club, they are dressed as if they have money but can't really afford anything, they're totally cheap.
They create a normal havoc, we've all been there, wanting to get drunk, wanting to be in the spotlight dancing on the tables and wanting the hottest guys to fall for us. But they're always taken aren't they?
This seems to be the case, and the girls come off their stage and soon see their doppelgangers thrown out of the club. In the last scene, the younger Booty Luv are sitting outside of a take-away, on the side of the curb, eating away. Definitely bringing back memories.
Overall, this fast-paced music video is definitely impressive considering their previous two singles "Boogie 2nite" and "Shine". I remember watching it repeatedly on the music channels, as the narrative was comedic. Although this video is dated, it is probably one of their best music videos. I literally can't wait to hear this song live.
Yes, I am bringing it all back. I am going to see Jo O'Meara and Bradley McIntosh, two of the band members from this group, in just over a week, so I'm bringing it all back, but not just S Club songs. The other acts performing on 30 July will be Booty Luv and Big Brovaz. This song was S Club 7's debut single in conjunction with their TV series Miami 7. The music video features scenes from the TV series as they totally perform the hell out of the song on a beach stage.
S Club 7 were a seven piece group that started off in a TV show called Miami 7. They consisted of Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Tina Barrett, Rachel Stevens, Bradley McIntosh and Paul Cattermole. They were just starting out with this debut single, but it got around and became an instant number one hit. The song was written by S Club 7, Eliot Kennedy, Tim Lever and Mike Percy.
There is apparently two official music videos released for this song. However, since this is the UK and Australian version, I'll leave the other one for the American's, and if I ever need to, I can always review that one at a later date.
This is a full performance-based music video with intercutted scenes of Miami 7 throughout. The performance is set on a beach stage in Miami, and at the very end we can see a small crowd of people watching them from afar.
The performance is a usual S Club 7 performance, full of confident dance moves that had kids copying them all around the world. The choreography is simple and relates to the song in detail. This was the typical manufactured pop dance moves that were around at the time.
Totally confident, all even members of this group nails the choreography, and although it is totally over the top, this was the style back then. It totally explains my confidence as a child.
The scenes of Miami 7, adds very little to the the music video, apart from breaking up the performance scene.
Overall, it works to an extent, but the scenes from Miami 7 distracts from the overall visual of the video, failing to capture any sort of narrative, and instead showing a collection of scenes to advertise the show. Which totally brings down my rating.
What have I just watched? Like how is this in the top 10 of the UK chart? Seriously? It is catchy, I have to admit. Regardless.... This makes my Chart Mondays because Drake has still not released his music video for "One Dance" which is still sitting pretty at the top of the UK chart, and has done so for 14 consecutive weeks now. This has popped out of nowhere, much like Desiigner's "Panda" did, and probably will be the only hits both acts manage to get over here. Kent Jones clearly spent the budget of the video on models, hence why he's just singing whilst girls parade around him.
Kent Jones is an American hip-hop rapper. This song is his debut single. He moved to Miami, Florida to work with LL Cool J and Dr. Dre, where he ended up signing a record deal with their company Epidemic Records. He has collaborated with many artists, before meeting DJ Khaled, who signed him to a joint record label, where he released his first mixtape. This debut single contains five different languages, which are: French, Spanish, Japanese, English and Haitian Creole. It was written by Kent Jones, Marcello Valenzano, Andre Lyon, Khaled Khaled, Barry White, Gerald Levert and Edwin Nicholas. It samples Barry White's "Practice What You Preach".
Directed by Eif Rivera, the video is nothing special, unless you count the model falling over as something exciting. The video has nothing going for it and is unrelated to the song. Something we've seen a hundred times before.
Luckily for us, we see a cameo appearance of DJ Khaled. Which also adds nothing to this video.
Totally a typical rap music video, there is always going to be a video, just like this one, in a rapper's career. Only this one isn't of a high quality, definitely budget blown on the models.
Camera work is dodgy, and the models don't even look like they're having a good time, apart from when they're on the swings and they're running around.
Overall this has no substance to it at all and is just another generic music video that gets lost in the thrall of models and rappers in a video. What makes this one stand-out though, is definitely The Powerpuff Girls jacket, that model works that pink overcoat perfectly, now I want one too!
2003 brought the battle of the Baby Boy's. Big Brovaz released this one in September, then a month later Beyoncé dropped her own "Baby Boy". This is the one key moment I remember two songs being in the chart with the same name at the same time. Beyoncé peaked at number two in October, whilst Big Brovaz was still in the chart at number 11. They peaked at number four, suggesting that Beyoncé won the chart number battle. Quite different from their debut single, this ballad song still included rap lyrics complimenting the soulful harmonies from the girls. Big Brovaz recreate hit TV show Friends in this stunning and hilarious music video for Baby Boy.
Whether Big Brovaz will be actually making a full-on comeback is something that is pretty debatable. Personally, I think they should, but it's doubtful, with one of them saying that they're only reforming to perform. They will be at The Nightingale Club in under two weeks time in Birmingham, and I can't wait to see them. The group, at the time, consisted of Cherise Roberts, Nadia Shepherd, Dion Howell, John Paul Horsley (J-Rock), Tayo Aisida (Flawless) and Randy Jackson. They released a string of hit singles and a hit album, but as they geared up to releasing their second album, they weren't doing quite so well. This song was the fourth single, and was written by Cherise Roberts, Nadia Shepherd, J-Rock, Randy Jackson and Dion Howell.
Directed by Vaughan Arnell, the video is a direct parody of hit TV series Friends. Introducing each of the group members, similar to their first song "Nu Flow" yet making it much more clearer in the video rather than the song.
So much thought went into this, it seems like a very short Friends episode created in a comedic way. Constant problems occur, which is something we obviously expected. What we didn't was the title screen.
Yes! They created a title sequence similar to the Friends' title sequence. Which then becomes the performance piece of the music video. Unfortunately, it's just them siting on the couch, nothing exciting and no vibes coming from them. This peaceful song with a great narrative loses all energy during the performance scene.
However, that scene can be overlooked as it's not included much. Overall, it works well, and it is totally sweet, but I feel the video doesn't really match the beats and the rhythm of the music, although it does translate the lyrics well. So I guess Beyoncé also wins the battle of the music videos with her "Baby Boy".
This music video has got everyone talking about it. It's fully emotional and engaging, Completely relating to domestic violence. I love the fact that the disturbing content is mentioned at the end, the person he likes is in an abusive relationship and the number for National Domestic Violence Hotline is shown at the end of the video. The song feels like an answer to Orianthi's "According To You", although I doubt Shawn Mendes has ever heard of it. Cute and sexy, Shawn Mendes suggests that he can treat you better than any other guy. The video portrays that perfectly, showing that the other guy is abusive.
Shawn Mendes became popular by sharing and uploading vine videos. his song "Stitches" soon became an obsession we all fell in love with, managing to climb the UK chart and grab that all important number one spot. This is the first single from his new album, expected to be released later this year. He recently dropped a second track titled "Ruin" which will act as a promotional single for the album. If these two singles are any indication on what the album is going to be like, it's going to be even better than the first one. Shawn Mendes is really making a mark on the music industry, and with vocals like this, he clearly deserves it. The song was written by Shawn Mendes, Teddy Geiger and Scott Harris.
Directed by Ryan Pallotta, this love triangle is shown on a visual, translating the lyrics perfectly. There is so much emotion displayed during the visual performance that it actually hurts.
I love the story line, as Shawn Mendes performs this song with such emotion (as well as seeing him shirtless, which is an added bonus), you can tell he means every single word of this song, and that he's been there.
The narrative side of things is performed by a woman and a man (who can also be seen shirtless at times, what's not to like?) showing an abusive relationship, and how simple change in moods can effect the way they interact with one another. Clearly he gets his frustration out of him by hitting things, but that later translates into hitting her, yet she believes she loves him. Girls like a bad guy.
Overall, this is another great music video from Shawn Mendes, it slightly tops "Stitches" because of the continuity and the great transition from song to visual, however I don't think it can quite compare to the awesomeness of his collaborative song with Camila Cabello on "I Know What You Did Last Summer".
I have to be honest, I totally wasn't expecting BB Diamond to bring this much fire to an amazing track, but my God did she do just that, outstanding! This isn't just an everyday normal tune, it is ablaze with sparks flying everywhere. At first it may seem a mess, but you start to love the chaotic vocals and beats, mashing together to make such a perfect rhythm. BB Diamond shows off her performing skills in video for new song Praying, which should be a summer hit!
BB Diamond has been going for a little while now, she's been a backing singer for high-profiled artists, and she is now ready to take on the music industry. Having already collaborated with Shift K3Y, you would think that would've pushed her into some success, but "Gone Missing" only hit 93 on the UK charts, not really making any sort of impact. This single isn't even in the iTunes top 1000, so chances are it's not going to get a chart number, even though it is a banger of a tune.
There isn't much to this music video. BB Diamond is acting sexily to the camera, putting on a normal, but engaging, performance. One that definitely makes me want to see her live.
A lot of energy and looking sultry, with vocals that could totally out-do many singers she has sung backing vocals for. This one is a star in the making. She just needs that one hit, the one that will launch her career.
The blue filter is a little off-putting, and there's nothing major going on the video, but those are the only things I can pick up on. Overall, it's a typical performance-based music video, where the singer stuns us all with her vocals and stage-presence.
I could've sworn I had already reviewed this music video, how the hell is my blog still going and I've never reviewed this video? Well it's time for me to correct this major problem. This is exactly why I like my Thursday Revisits, a perfect excuse to review past music videos that deserve to be a part of my blog. Katy Perry becomes a character in her own board game, which Snoop Dogg is playing. Later, Snoop Dogg joins the characters in the board game for a battle.
Katy Perry, real name Katheryn Hudson, hit big with this song, and it's accompanying music video is fire. The song hit number one in the UK and the US as well as many other countries. The featured star is Snoop Dogg, real name Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., who has had a major career as a rapper, jumping in and out of the charts. This song was an answer to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' song "Empire State of Mind". It was written by Katy Perry, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Benjamin Levin, Bonnie McKee and Calvin Broadus. It is an ode to the California state.
The video was directed by Mathew Cullen, and was inspired by the work by Will Cotton.who was the artistic director of the video. It takes inspiration from the Candyland boad game.
The board game for this music video is called Candyfornia, and also has an explanation stating "Face the Sugar Daddy's dice to free the Queens of Candyfornia" which sounds like some weird gay sex dream.
So much effort went into the making of this music video, like literally there is so much going on, so much to talk about, so much to see, every single minute detail is included, even the dice are real sugar.
Instead of looking at it in detail, I'm going to give the basics, since it is extremely developed. Katy Perry walks around the Candyfornia board game, coming across previous characters who fell at the hands of Snoop Dogg. She rescues them and collectively they defeat the Sugar Daddy.
Many scenes can be highlighted, such as the gummy bear who swears, I so hope he fell hard at the end. The gingerbread scene looked like fun, and the ending is pretty perfect, totally sexual and yet so awesome at the same time.
Overall, this is the sort of board game you want to be involved in, yet knowing it's not real. It transports everything you know about California girls and puts them in a Candy world. A perfect video for a brilliant song.
This is Slovenia's Entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Tinkara Kovač finally won the national selection process to become the representative for Slovenia. She made it through the Semi Finals and came 25th out of 26 countries in the Grand Final in 2014 with 9 points. This chilling music video shows Tinkara Kovač's powerful vocals, beautiful flute melodies and her lyrics translated into a gritty contemporary dance by two emotive dancers.
Tinkara Kovač has tried to represent her country in Eurovision three times before finally succeeding with her fourth attempt in 2014. To compete for Slovenia, contestants have to go through a national selection called Evrovizijska Melodija, usually shortened to EMA, which means Eurovision Melody in English. Tinkara Kovač has competed in the EMA contest in 1997, 1999 and 2001, before winning in 2014. Having released a number of singles and albums, as well as winning a few awards and performing with various stars, Tinkara Kovač is definitely a prolific singer and that definitely explains her amazing vocals. This song was written by Tinkara Kovač, Hannah Mancini and Tina Piš.
This music video was shot on Koper Harbour, on the Adriatic coast in Slovenia. It's chillingly beautiful, and serene.
A pure performance piece in both scenes, Tinkara Kovač looks stunning in both the outfits she wears, as she sings emphatically and emotionally to the song. She has amazing performance vibes that secludes the viewer into watching her and nothing else. Although very little energy, with some disappointing moves, she could engage the audience a tiny bit more.
The dancers totally overpower her. They are amazingly talented, grabbing the entire attention of the music video. The choreography is performed to perfection, and every minute detail is on point. These dancers make this music video.
However I am not so keen on them dancing in the murky water, not only does it look unappealing, but it doesn't relate to the song, they should've continued to dance where they originally were.
Overall, a great music video, that definitely helps to get the message across about the song. Although there are some slightly bad decisions made for the video, visually it works well.
Ever since Dove Cameron sung this song acoustically on Snapchat, which she later posted to twitter, I haven't been able to get her version out of my head. The clip is only ten seconds long, yet she has such an amazing technical voice that it stuns us all. I am hoping it's her next single release, but I think she was just singing it whilst she was on holiday. Destiny's Child's original is just as good though. Set in a hair salon, the girls from Destiny's Child sing about their problems whilst styling people's hair.
This song was released back when Destiny's Child were a four-piece band consisting of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett. This group, as a four-piece, were at the height of their career, sending out chart hit after chart hit. Now split up, but still on good terms, Beyoncé has quickly became a worldwide star, which was unsurprising since she was the lead singer of this group. Kelly Rowland has always been in her footsteps, ever since this group was formed, and to this day she's not a household name, although she has tried. As for LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett, they too tried to become big artists, but it just didn't work out for them. The song charted at number six on the UK chart, but number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Kevin Briggs, Kandi Burruss, Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Kelly Rowland.
The video, directed by Darren Grant, was set inside a beauty salon and was a tribute to Beyoncé Knowles' mother Tina.
A pure performance piece, with more focus on dancing and singing than actually styling people's hair. Although we all would love Beyoncé to style our hair, she'd probably end up singing and forgetting all about our hair style.
The opening is interesting in a robotic way, leading into the music video, it shows Beyoncé's love interest asking to borrow her keys, but she's had enough of him asking her for everything. This is a direct link to the song, which in turn connects the music video.
As per usual the girls are on form with their dancing, totally focused and the choreography is performed to perfection.
However this entire video seems way more dated than what it is, considering other videos released at the same time. There's not a lot going on in the video, and nothing that stands out apart from the opening. It just comes off a little bland, and considering the song is so catchy, the music video fails to live up to the beats and melody.
"One Dance" by Drake makes its 13th consecutive week at number one in the UK, and still no music video as of yet, so Chart Mondays is open to the Top 10 once again. Two videos have officially been released for this song, the first one was entitled "First Listen" which includes cast members of the animation movie that this song is the soundtrack to, entitled "Trolls". This is the second one and the official music video. I was kind of expecting the former video, as I thought that was the official video, guess I was wrong. Luckily I don't have to name all the stars in that video, and can save that for another day when I feel like reviewing it, if I ever do. This video is a pure performance piece, Justin Timberlake still looks young, less sexy more classy. This has definitely become the new Pharrell Williams' "Happy", only less annoying and less of a chart success.
Justin Timberlake, is practically one of the biggest male solo singers in the world. He performed this song during the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, and has managed to get this song spread globally on a massive scale. A household name indeed. This song has definitely turned into Pharrell Williams' "Happy" and the music video isn't so different either. The song was written by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Shellback.
The video was directed by Mark Romanek. The video has a feel-good element to it, and inspires everyday people to go out and have a good day.
Revitalising motivation and energy, Justin Timberlake turns his song into this year's "Happy", with a similar tune, a similar visual, a similar idea and just as bad dance moves.
The latter becomes a main problem since it is a choreography style that is totally dated. Even my choreographer, when I was young and in a dance troupe, came up with much better ideas. Justin Timberlake is supposed to be an amazing dancer, but his arms are flimsy and his moves have no rhythm, and yet he is in-sync with the backing dancers because their arms are flimsy and they have no rhythm.
This both works and doesn't, it's something we've seen a few times already, it's nothing new, not much of an advertisement for the film "Trolls" and no correlation to the animation, apart from them appearing in a TV store on TVs. This just isn't as engaging as we all expected it to be.
All day I've had Fifth Harmony's "All In My Head (Flex)" all in my head, literally the catchy tune had embedded itself inside my mind, definitely stuck in my head. It was because the girls performed the song on the Grand Finale of The Voice Australia which I wrote an article on for CelebMix. As I've already reviewed "All In My Head (Flex)", I thought I'd review this song, as it is one of my favourites. Fifth Harmony elegantly display their natural performance style in this Write On Me music video, for the promotional single.
Fifth Harmony are a five-piece american girl group, consisting of Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane Hansen, Normani Kordei and Camila Cabello. They formed on The X Factor US, and have gone from strength to strength as they release more and more songs. Worldwide domination is definitely on the cards for this group, but with stiff competition in other countries, it is slightly difficult. This ballad song strips back the club melodies and gives us their perfect voices. Technically great, this song is one of the best on their new album '7/27'. The song was written by Mikkel Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (Kygo), Priscilla Renea and Simon Wilcox.
Directed by Sam Lecca, this music video is a simple performance-piece, stripped back and classy. Although I usually don't like black and white videos, this one pulls it off.
I love the writing elements that is worked throughout, and it must've been a nightmare trying to edit in the finger clicks or finger snaps.
The girls are relaxed, looking elegantly sexy as they sing this very classy song. The video is a perfect performance piece, and it's so nice to see the girls in their natural element.
This is what they do, when they're on stage, when they're being themselves, when they're dancing freestyle. Perfect performance video! However a narrative would've been perfect for this song, they totally missed out on a good opportunity.
This was playing on my iTunes today, which I have on shuffle, and it's been stuck in my head whilst at work, so thought I'd review the music video as we await her new album, which she is currently working on. It's been two years since this video dropped and it's still a lot to take in. This is how we do according to Katy Perry, this is how you do a studio-based music video, totally knocking it out of the park with this performance piece.
Katy Perry, real name Katheryn Hudson, hasn't released anything new since this song almost two years ago. She started in the music industry under her real name Katy Hudson back in 2001, but changed her stage name to Katy Perry to prevent confusion between her and the actress Kate Hudson. We are waiting patiently for her new music, which has been a long time coming for any KatyCat, or Katy Perry fan, Katy Perry has been a little bit busy, she recently became the most followed celebrity on Twitter, amassing 90.3 million followers. Her most recent single, this one, was written by Katy Perry, Klas Åhlund and Max Martin.
The video was directed by New Zealand filmmaker Joel Kefali. Relating to the song perfectly in this summer hit of 2014, adding in pop culture and exact translation into visual during lyrics, this is how you pull off a studio-based music video.
There's literally so much going on that even to document every minute detail, you're bound to miss something.
Twerking ice creams, pizza nails, Yves Saint Laurent's Mondrian dresses, Mariah Carey caricature, picture of Aretha Franklin, pop art to the max, karaoke, dancing, table tennis, this music video has it all.
The explosion of summery stuff in a studio-based music video makes this video tongue-in-cheek and so addicting. It matches the song's beat and style, and totally worked! Each lyric of the song has it's own 'vignette' according to the director.
However the song didn't perform well on the charts, despite the catchy tune and perfect music video. It isn't really a commercial song, too bubble-gum pop that would've really worked years and years ago, and although it attempted to make a comeback, it didn't impact the charts the way it should've done. However this will always become one of Katy Perry's classic tracks that we all know and love even if the charts say differently.
Just recently released, this low budgeted music video from these boys has taken me right back to the music video for "Mama Do The Hump" and although not as well thought out, this one has a great theme none the less. Less than a translation of the lyrics than their previous single, "Everyone's Dead" music video is simple and classy, as Rizzle Kicks nail rap verses as they have fun performing in front of the camera.
Rizzle Kicks returned a few months back with a brand new single "Always Late", this follow-up dropped today, exciting many Rizzle Kicks fans. Consisting of Jordan Stephens (Rizzle) and Harley Alexander-Sule (Sylvester), the Brighton-based duo are prepared for their forthcoming album to be released soon. This song is the third single off the new album, after "Tell Her" and "Always Late". It was written by Jordan Stephens, Harley Alexander-Sule and Ben Callum.
Directed by one half of the duo, Jordan Stephens. This video is an insight into their wacky world, especially with the camera effects that makes me feel as if I'm high.
There isn't a lot going on, it feels more like a home video than anything else, something they just felt like dropping. With flashing lights and pretend microphones, they are having a small party with a few friends.
They are playing their new track and singing along, nailing the rapping, and proving what great performers they are.
Overall, I find this video disappointing compared to their previous efforts, and the simple distortion effect of the camera leads much to be desired. On the other hand, this is more of a promotional video to promote this song, as a teaser of what is to come, and what we should expect off their new album. If these tracks are anything to go by, the new album will be fire!
I swear this is a music video I have already reviewed, yet it's not on my blog at all, so I'm guessing it's just one of those where it was so popular that I thought I had reviewed it, but clearly I haven't... So here goes... Time to go Glamorous with Fergie and Ludacris, a perfect hook and a catchy song, the music video is the embodiment of a glamour, sexy, stylish, money, power, stardom. What more do we want?
Fergie, real name Stacy Ferguson, dropped this amazing song in 2007, hence why I'm reviewing it as my Thursday Revisit, after her new release "M.I.L.F. $". The song charted well globally, but missed out on the top five in the UK by peaking at number six. This is the song that got me into Fergie in the first place, I already was obsessed with her as I was obsessed with the Black Eyed Peas, in which they were on hiatus at the time, but it was this single, this song that made me buy her songs, and I haven't looked back since. Ludacris, real name Christopher Bridges, features on this track. He hasn't exactly done well in the UK, two top 20 singles and a few songs in the top 100, yet featured wise, he's had a range of hits and two number ones. On this song, his rap is a bit before it's time, and is on point for the song. It was written by Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones, Will Adams, Elvis Williams and Christopher Bridges. Highly personal, and really hits home, she's made it big but she's real.
This jam-packed music video was directed by Dave Meyers and launches into a life in the world of Fergie, fictional and yet oh so real.
The video starts off at a party with Fergie and Polow da Don back in 1994, who produced the track as well as new single "M.I.L.F. $". We are then launched into the present where we see her life now as a high profiled celebrity and singer.
Various scenes follow: She's in a jet with a flight attendant played by Freddy Rodriguez, where she is seen watching the Black Eyed Peas music video for "Pump It"; then in a limo with some friends going through a drive-thru of Taco Bell (we presume from the lyrics), which she also did back in the 1990's only with a mustang instead; then a movie scene, reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde, only it's called Glamorous, Ludacris appears in this scene and does his rap; Fergie goes behind the scenes of the movie shoot and thanks her fans in her lyrics for making her famous as the stylists get to work; one more scene of her as a young girl and her daddy telling her what the showbiz industry is like; before ending at the 1994 party, which has scenes that include Alfonso Ribeiro, Polow da Don, apl.de.ap and Cypress Hill.
The entire music video is a flawless example of how to get five stars from me. Perfect in every way. A performance piece turned into a complete narrative, linking in certain lyrics with certain scenes and some great translations from song to video. What is there not to like?
Emblem3 and Fifth Harmony were always the two groups who battled it out, they both started out on The X Factor US, and then later they were competing for chart numbers. Emblem3, at one point, were doing better than Fifth Harmony, but that soon changed, leaving this group broken, especially when a member left, but he returned and they have come back stronger than ever with this catchy new tune! Emblem3 bring the summer with this skater anthem that is bound to get stuck in your head by the end of the summer.
Emblem3 consist of Keaton Stromberg, Wesley Stromberg and Drew Chadwick. They hit it big in 2013, just out of The X Factor US, they managed to get on the billboard hot 100 at 93 with "Chloe (You're The One That I Want)". However it wasn't meant to be and with Drew Chadwick leaving, the group went on an indefinite hiatus, but guess things worked out for the better in the end, because they are back stronger than ever. This song is from their third EP titled Waking Up.
This music video is a typical summer video that you expect from a boy band, only proving they can skateboard and drive cars while they are singing.
It's fun, hot and relaxing, it's so nice to see them all get along well, and it's interesting to see how far they will go this time around.
The guys are looking hot and sexy, although their style needs to be drawn in some more. The skating appeals to young teenagers who are into that thing, and yet they aren't looking like a group that guys look up to, and girls scream at, not just yet anyway.
Summery and catchy this is a song that you need to have playing over the summer, and yet there's nothing that interesting in the accompanying music video. Apparently former member Kyle Miner appears in the video, adding a bit of nostalgia before Emblem3's audition on The X Factor US. It's just the average summer music video though, with nothing interesting, although the love interests are way out of their league, just saying.
Eric Saade is back with this amazingly emotional video which features Gustaf Norén, this Swedish superstar has already done well in his career so far, but now he needs to make it big internationally, having already had a few hits in his home country, he hasn't been getting the chart hits he clearly deserves over there. Eric Saade stuns in this emotional narrative of this song, highly personal, he can't stop thinking about this girl that is keeping him Wide Awake, so he wrecks the caravan, featuring Gustaf Norén.
Eric Saade has recently dropped his EP with this song and his other recently released songs, in promotion of the new album that is expected to be released this week. He originally was in a band called What's Up!, he later went solo and has had two number ones in Sweden, these are "Manboy" and "Popular", now he has gone down a more mature route releasing songs that are highly emotional and much more personal. He attempted to represent Sweden in Eurovision 2010 with "Manboy" but came third overall in Melodifestivalen 2010. The following year he won and "Popular" became Sweden's entry to Eurovison 2011, where he came third overall. He attempted to represent Sweden again in 2015 with "Sting", but he came fifth in the final of Melodifestivalen. The featured star is Gustaf Norén, who is just kick-starting his solo career after being a founding member of rock band Mando Diao, he left the group last year after being with the band since 1999, he was one of two frontmen. He adds flavour to this highly emotional song which was written by Eric Saade, Gustaf Norén, Vikor Norén and Joakim Andrén.
Directed by the artist himself, Eric Saade manages to make this entire video personal, both on screen and off screen. With that emotional link to the song, it's no wonder he managed to create such a great video.
Who doesn't want to wreck a caravan in pain? Eric Saade clearly brought up all the feelings about this song and unleashed it on the caravan perfectly. Wrecking the place with anything he could get his hands on before burning it to the ground.
There are various performance scenes, some of which are in black and white making this even more emotional. Eric Saade performs with his usual style, but Gustaf Norén really outshines, he stares at the camera sultrily, working the camera as he sings.
Overall a faultless music video, that engages and works perfectly, however there's no sign of a love interest and so the audience wonders who they are singing about, but great work, and I can't wait to see what Eric Saade brings in the future, especially with his new album about to drop soon.
The amazing dance duo is back, this is exactly the sort of songs that I love to hear from Rihanna as dance music suits her voice perfectly and it's clear she loves singing these sort of songs. With Drake still at number one with "One Dance" which marks it's twelfth consecutive week at number one, my Chart Mondays review is open for the top ten again, although a music video for "One Dance" is on it's way, it has yet to be released. This one is currently sitting at number four on the UK chart. Rihanna performs perfectly in rag-like clothes that she easily pulls off, loving her life in a visual cube box as well as out of it. Calvin Harris' This Is What You Came For shows the Rihanna we all know and love.
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, is an inspiration to us all. He's one of those rare acts that have built his name from scratch. This Scottish DJ has worked and worked and worked to become this international star, and it has definitely paid off. Calvin Harris will always be setting the charts alight. He collaborates, once again, with Rihanna, real name Robyn Fenty, who has also worked hard to get to where she is now, yeah she may have had a few hit singles when she started, but she made a name for herself by working hard, she wouldn't be here if she didn't. This song was written by Calvin Harris and Nils Sjöberg.
Directed by Emil Nava, the music video is exciting after seeing the cube box and hoping for an extremely visual music video much like Sergey Lazarev's "You Are The Only One"; yet it doesn't work as perfectly and what could have been amazing, falls flat.
Some perfect projected images and video used works really well, and at times it is visually amazing, but the cube fails to work the way we all had hoped, so they switch it up, focusing on Rihanna alone.
Rihanna shines throughout, she clearly loves EDM, house and dance music. She's having so much fun recording the music video, this is the sort of music she enjoys. It's enlightening to see her so happy performing.
Her style is somewhat disappointing, yet she seems relaxed in this rag-like costume, like it's something she wears around her house and pulls out of her wardrobe often. She pulls it off as if it was meant for her, it probably was to be honest.
Overall, the cube fails to work out the way we had hoped, and Sergey Lazarev's "You Are The Only One" really puts this music video to shame in comparison. However, Rihanna's performance is infectious and some visual scenes are on point. They made it work, but it is somewhat lacking.
The video and song everyone is talking about, this is the lead song from the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack. Rihanna has been working on it for at least two years as far as we know, and this is the outcome. She claims to have been a fan of the Star Trek franchise since she was a child and it's a part of her childhood, so it's no wonder that she would want to become involved in the new film in one way or another. Rihanna becomes an alien or extraterrestrial up in her own planet, creating small magic that has us wishing we had her powers. This hypnotic music video for Sledgehammer puts us all in a trance-like state.
The film hasn't even been released yet and this music video is out, but Rihanna, real name Robyn Fenty, as ever, surprises us all. The film is expected to be released at the end of this month, which is when I expect this song will rise quickly in the charts, much like P!nk's soundtrack single "Just Like Fire" did when Alice Through The Looking Glass got released. Rihanna's new single doesn't interest me all that much, she has stepped away from the style of music I loved from her, "Don't Stop The Music", "Umbrella" and "Shut Up And Drive" seem like light-years away, especially in comparison to this which definitely has a Beyoncé 2016 feel to it. It was written by Robyn Fenty, Sia Furler and Jesse Shatkin.
Directed by Floria Sigismondi, the video really captures the loneliness of a person on a planet all by themselves. It was shot through IMAX cameras, the first music video to entirely be shot using these cameras, it probably looked amazing at IMAX cinemas and theatres.
Rihanna transforms herself into some sort of alien, some out of this world being that has magical powers that I'm pretty sure we would all die for. However, she isn't looking all that appealing, but I guess we're used to that with anything from Star Trek, it's more geeky than sexy, and Rihanna pulls it off perfectly.
There isn't much else to add to my review of this music video, there are some magnificent visual concepts and scenes, but none defining or developed enough for us to fully embrace it. This is one of those videos that you will either love or hate, and it totally relates to Star Trek, something I've never managed to get my head around.
Okay, so as I've previously mentioned I will be seeing S Club, Booty Luv and Big Brovaz at The Nightingale Club in Birmingham at the end of this month, only it's Jo and Bradley from S Club, so not exactly the full group, but it'll be worth it. This song is their introduction song, even though it was their second single, this song is known at the one where you got to know the members of S Club 7. Much like Big Brovaz first single "Nu Flow", this song features the names of each of the band members. S Club inspire confidence in this music video that is totally nostalgic for anyone who watched this back in 1999. Mashing up 'Grease' and 'Back To The Future', S Club 7 gets involved in a car race, that they undoubtedly win.
S Club 7 were at the height of their career, having had multiple TV shows, they were doing so well on the UK chart, they were literally marketed amazingly. The group consisted of Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O'Meara, Hannah Spearritt and Rachel Stevens. The band slowly dissipated after Paul Cattermole left and although they continued on as a six-piece, they failed to make chart hit after chart hit. They eventually disbanded to do their own things, with many of the members stating that being in the band was exhausting, and considering how much promotion went into the group, it's unsurprising that they were overworked. Many reformations have happened in the past, featuring some or all of the members, a full reunion tour happened, but nothing new came of it. Now only two of the band members, Jo O'Meara and Bradley McIntosh will be performing at The Nightingale Club, but it's going to be one hell of a show regardless. This song charted at number two on the UK Charts, and did well worldwide, hitting number one in New Zealand as well as number two in Australia. The song was written by Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen and Hallgeir Rustan.
Directed by Andrew Margetson, the video was filmed on the set of the TV movie 'Back To The '50s', which is a parody sitcom produced for CITV back in 1999 and features S Club 7. It parodies 'Back To The Future' and 'Grease'. The video includes clips that weren't in the movie and vice versa. Filmed at the famous Vasquez Rocks.
The group go back in time to 1959, in the US, where they end up having a race, which they obviously win.
There is a few scenes from the movie, such as the start and the end, this shows off their lack of acting skills as they don't really mean what they are saying, it's all laughable, and yet as kids we totally didn't notice any problems with the script.
The dancing is totally over the top, and definitely explains my confidence as a child, it all totally makes sense now, this is exactly why I never was afraid to dance on the dancefloor, and considering the moves back then were current, you wouldn't be seen dead doing half of these dance moves, let alone have the confidence to pull them off. But it's kind of nice to realise that this group gave me confidence even at such a young age.
This embarrassing clip fails to relate to the song, and more or less relates to the movies it's inspired from as well as the soundtrack to the TV movie. Regardless, this will always be a part of my childhood and how can I not like the song, I probably sang it day in day out when it was released.
Fergie is back with her follow up to "L.A. Love" and this one is a lot more saucy, or should I say milky? Definitely a song for the mother's of the world, announcing that women can still be themselves even after childbirth. Fergie proves that she's one hot momma, with the help of a few famous faces, "M.I.L.F. $" empowers confidence in everyone.
Fergie, real name Stacy Ferguson, has come a long way, having already had a successful solo career with her debut album back in 2006, she is now back ten years later, Having already helped the Black Eyed Peas become a solid name since she joined them, the constant hiatus of the group allows her to explore her second album, and if it's going to be anything like the first, it's going to be amazing. "L.A. Love" has worked well as the first single, and hit it big here in the UK, and it looks like her second single off her new album is set to do just as well. This song was written by Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones and Jocelyn Donald.
Directed by Colin Tilley, world renowned director and explains why this music video is so good, it is set in a town called 'Milfville' and features a range of famous mothers. These include Kim Kardashian West, Chrissy Teigan, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ciara, Gemma Ward, Tara Lyn, Devon Aoki, Angela Lindvall, Isabeli Fontana, Amber Valletta and Natasha Poly. The male actor, milkman and love interest is played by Jon Kortajarena, and a bar tender is played by Jordan Barrett. Anja, Alessandra Ambrosio's daughter, and Luna, Chrissy Teigan's daughter, both appear in this music video too.
A star studded cast, in this wrapped up performance and narrative video, that is totally set in a dream-like world.
Fergie defies sexiness and sassiness, pulling off the dance routine effortlessly with her backing dancers, no matter what version of reality she is in. Giving Kelis a run of her "Milkshake" money, Fergie works the camera in every way possible.
Dream like visions appear, including a milk room where the famous faces bathe in milk, to the milkshake parlour, where Fergie has red hair and looks super cute at the diner. The obvious dream one appeared, where she is transformed into a black-haired teacher, with a vocal range that proves that Fergie is one heck of a good singer, she struts her stuff in front of a classroom full of guys.
The ending shows that we've all just been caught up in Jon Kortajarena's dreams as Fergie has love struck him as she fans his face whilst he's lying on the bench with her. Later the TV reintroduces the famous faces as they drink or spill milk.
Overall a highly conceptualised music video that is so detailed that it doesn't surprise me that Colin Tilley directed this. A brilliant performance piece, Fergie really owns this role, with a great narrative infused. This video works, it relates, it's high quality and it's humorous, what's not to like?
I had to review this song as my Thursday Revisit purely because it was the last music video the group ever recorded, and although new songs have materialised on iTunes, there hasn't been a music video. The group are going to be performing at The Nightingale next month, which I cannot wait for! They entered the national selection for Eurovision with this song back in 2007 and came third in the public vote, behind winners Scooch with "Flying The Flag (For You)" and second place Cyndi with "I'll Leave My Heart". Honestly, this song would've done much better in the contest because of it's originality. There is still a market in the music industry for these guys. Turning into superheroes, Big Brovaz final music video is confusing and difficult to follow, but the song is vocal perfection.
Big Brovaz, at this time were a four piece group consisting of Nadia Shepherd, Cherise Roberts, Randy Jackson and John Paul Horsley (J-Rock). Originally a six piece, the group dwindled both in numbers and in chart positions, unfortunately this track is their lowest charting position, because promotion for the song wasn't possible due to it being submitted for 'Making Your Mind Up', the UK's national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. The four-piece still perform nowadays, but reports suggest that they will not be releasing any new music in the future, unfortunately. This song was written by Nadia Shepherd, Cherise Roberts, Randy Jackson, John Paul Horsley, Dion Howell, Lars H. Jensen, Martin M. Larsson and Christina Undhjem.
Much like many other groups before and after them, Big Brovaz are transformed into superheroes. They resemble X-Men in more ways than one. Other acts to have done a similar thing includes Liberty X on "X" and The Saturdays on "Ego".
The narrative is incredibly difficult to follow, with many repeated scenes as well as various unrelated clips. It's even difficult to get to grips with the story line let alone understand what is going on.
They don't even suit the superhero look, and there is more focus on the setting of the video and the way everything looks in the shot, rather than how the video is going on as a whole.
It comes across totally messy, and definitely difficult to follow or make heads or tails of.
Regardless there is a main performance side which has the energetic vibes that we are used to seeing from these guys. Ones I hope to see on stage next month, there is clearly still a chemistry between all four of them, and that this is meant to be, apart from this video which doesn't work at all.
