One of the world's much-loved Swedish artists about at the moment is Zara Larsson. Now she's going for a global career and "Ain't My Fault" should be the start of that, she just needs to be careful, because she's at the point in her career where everything can just disappear in a few seconds. It's happened to many artists before her, hit songs are all okay as long as you continue to release one after the other after the other. This song faired well but it's a rocky ledge to be sitting on right now. Zara Larsson entertains in this sexed-up music video for "Ain't My Fault" that is completely polished it hurts. Choreography on point as well as her performance vibes. She's ready for global stardom!
Zara Larsson came to fame globally thanks to MNEK collaborating with her on track "Never Forget You". This launched her around the world, where her previous song "Lush Life" started to gain traction. Next, Tinie Tempah snapped her up for song: "Girls Like" and that was it, she was famous. David Guetta then grabbed a collab on song: "This One's For You", but it didn't do as well as her other songs globally, and now this one isn't proving the success they were hoping for. The reason being is her diversity. Zara Larsson is doing something no one else is doing in the music industry at the moment. Her songs are completely unique, and that is a risky business but one that will surely pay off. Let's be honest, her international album, which she is working on, will be perfection personified. With "Lush Life" and "Ain't My Fault" as lead singles; her album is what we need in our lives right now! This song was written by Uzoechi Emenike (MNEK), Zara Larsson and Markus Sepehrmanesh.
Directed by Emil Nava, the video is a pure performance piece with Zara Larsson really getting into this sexy role. It's definitely a side to her that we've never quite seen before. In her previous videos, it's been natural beauty, this one seems like she's trying too hard; however, she gives as good as she gets and really owns this style in some scenes.
In certain scenes she's relaxed and it works but in others, there's a complete disconnect. This is what loses the audience. On the other hand, her choreography is pulled off perfectly, although simple she's in time with her backing dancers and she's having fun.
There is a potential chance of a narrative as we see an ex-lover tied up and dangling from the ceiling. He soon disappears off-screen and is all but forgotten. Again, Zara Larsson hints at a narrative but doesn't give us one; this happened in "Lush Life".
There's not a lot to say about this, Zara Larsson struggles to adapt to this sexy version of herself. She seems awkward as if she doesn't really know how stunningly beautiful she really is. This video would've worked if she had more confidence; in parts she has it, but in others she's lost. It's a great song but there's just a distance in the music video that fails to keep the attention of the viewers.
When this was released last week, I knew it I'd have to review it at some point. Thing was, when I was able to review it, I was writing up an album review for Outlet Magazine. I was pretty much done reviewing Shawn Mendes by that point and I needed a break, regardless of his amazing vocals and songs, I just couldn't put myself through that. However, now I'm ready and this is definitely one of my favourite songs from his new album! In a split music video between narrative and performance, Shawn Mendes starts to drown inside a car as he struggles to get out. With a great performance piece proving his instrumentality, we're definitely giving him some "Mercy".
Shawn Mendes has really become this magnificent male artist over night. "Stitches" climbed up the chart slowly but surely in one of the most phenomenal climbs in the UK chart history, where he finally reached the top spot. It has been a similar case with a few of his songs, but then again it shows how catchy they really are. This song has "Stitches" elements to it, yet it's much more slower and more of a pop-ballad, yet totally strong. The song was written by Shawn Mendes, Teddy Geiger, Ilsey Juber and Danny Parker.
This music video was directed by Jay Martin, and as I said before, it consists of both a narrative and a performance piece, which usually adds up to an amazing music video, and this is sure as hell what this is.
Although basic and simple, what with Shawn Mendes slowly descending into a sea of water. Obviously, every girl and gay guy are commemorating whoever came up with this idea because a wet Shawn Mendes is an extremely hot Shawn Mendes!
The car symbolises the girl he's singing about, it suggests that he's drowning and she's not giving him mercy and so he can't get out, but finally it gives way and he swims to the surface. Totally relatable to the song, yet so simplistic. It's perfect.
The performance side shows that Shawn Mendes is a one-man band, he can literally play an assortment of instruments whilst singing. But, boy, he's not just singing, he's putting so much emotion into this song and the performance of this song, that as an audience we feel him right in our hearts. He means every single word he is singing, and we can see that. Even in the narrative piece of the video, he sings the song like his life depends on it like his heart is calling out for mercy. He's such an emotional performer and singer it's a gift we're glad to receive both visually and aurally.
This is a faultless video, it may be simple, but who needs chaos in something so authentically good? The song has so much emotion, and Shawn Mendes transcends that right into the music video. There's not a lot else for me to say. I just hope his next music video is just as good because he never fails to knock it out of the park.
Totally cheating using this as my New Release this week since it was released on Tuesday, but still it counts and I am totally in love with this amazing song! I previously reviewed this for CelebMix. This is the first Antonia song I've liked a lot, but I haven't heard many of her others yet. Label mates to my favourite singers in the world, Inna and Alexandra Stan, Antonia is set for big things. Antonia dances through this music video with Achi, she wants everyone to "Get Up And Dance" in this catchy song.
Antonia, full name Antonia Iacobescu, is a Romanian singer, she previously lived in the US and has had a successful modelling career. This is clear in this video because she is looking gorgeous throughout. She made a name for herself on the Tom Boxer hit "Morena" and then later had a solo hit with "Marabou". She hasn't quite made it as big as her label mates, but she's always been there, people know who she is... She just needs a worldwide hit, and the path she's on now with a good solid song like this one could possibly turn her into the worldwide success she deserves. She looks like a star and her voice is magnificent! Here comes Antonia, keep your eyes on her! Featured on the track is Achi, real name Octavian Petre, has previously worked with Marius Moga and is definitely an up-and-coming Romanian singer. This song was written by Lucan Vlad Octavian, Petre Ioachim Octavian, Chiosea Marian Florian and Paul Maracine.
Directed by Spike, this music video is a performance piece with an editing twist that prevents it from being boring. Instead, it makes it much more entertaining and visually amazing.
Antonia is stunning in her three different costume changes, she could literally wear anything and pull it off like it's nothing. She shows her dancing ability and her on-stage presence, imagine seeing Antonia live, now that'll be one heck of a show! She's relaxed in this video; she clearly loves this song.
Achi fares well in the video too, performance vibes bounce off him like this song is his tune. He's also relaxed; also clearly loving this song.
The editing team did an amazing job on this. It's stylish, current and it's entertaining. This is flawless in a performance-piece styled video. This is how they should all turn out!
What more can I say or comment on? This is a great complete package, it's simple but amazing to watch. This song is a banger of a tune that will totally be played at any parties I hold. Although I don't approve of the Lipton advertising, totally out of place!
Can you believe it's been five years since Ariana Grande released her first ever song and music video? This means she can appear on my blog again this week for my Thursday Revisit. This is the song a video Ariana Grande hates, she calls it the worst moment of her life, and you can definitely see why. Ariana Grande asks you to "Put Your Hearts Up" in the air, whilst doing heart hands and turning the street into a musical. Totally over the top and way too cheesy.
Ariana Grande became well known for playing Cat Valentine on Victorious, which then lead to a spin-off show called Sam & Cat. This was her debut single, back in 2011, and many fans have said that this reminds them of Cat Valentine and that she was just acting in this entire music video. It is extremely cheesy. Ariana Grande has described it as 'bubblegum pop' and that that genre is not her. Personally, it's more 'cheesy pop' than anything else since 'bubblegum pop' has come a long way compared to what it was, just check out Alexandra Stan's "Cherry Pop". This 'cheesy pop' song has been taken off Ariana Grande's Vevo account as she hates it so much! This was supposed to be the lead single from her debut album, but "The Way" replaced it and this song is all but forgotten about now. This song samples 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?". It was written by Linda Perry, Martin Johnson and Matt Squire.
Directed by Meiert Avis and Jeremy Alter, the music video feels like it's straight out of 'Hairspray'. It's over the top cheese, with extra on top, just to make sure. No wonder Ariana Grande hates this.
There's a full choreography part, that Ariana Grande pulls off like we totally expect her to, although the ending clips show that she did actually mess it up a little bit. Totally in sync with the dancers, who totally bat out this dance sequence like it was made for them.
It's quite cute as a complete package, but there's not a lot to comment on, and Ariana Grande does not suit this pink dress whatsoever. This is not great to watch compared to how far she's come and how polished her music videos are right now.
One of my favourites from the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, but that is mainly because I've supported Ruth Lorenzo since she appeared on The X Factor in 2008. She scored 74 points for Spain in Eurovision 2014, where she placed 10th. I have and will continue to support Ruth Lorenzo, and I hope that new music will be on the way soon. In this video, Ruth Lorenzo gives a great performance piece as well as showing off her skills in "Dancing In The Rain" with Giuseppe Di Bella.
Ruth Lorenzo was a part of the fifth series of The X Factor, where she placed fifth overall. She competed in Mira quién va a Eurovisión, Spain's national selection process. She came joint first with Brequette who sung "Más (Run)", but Ruth Lorenzo won overall because of the public vote, which prevails over the jury vote if there is a tie. She went on to release her album Planeta Azul, which was then re-released as a special edition with additional tracks. She later took part in Tu Cara Me Suena (the Spanish version of Your Face Sounds Familiar) which she won. Hopefully, new music is being created and a new album will be out soon, well that's what I'm hoping for. This song was written by Ruth Lorenzo, Jim Irvin and Julian Emery.
Directed by Paloma Zapata, the video is a pure performance piece, showing how amazing Ruth Lorenzo is live; if only I got the chance to see her again on stage. I last saw her at The X Factor tour, but I was very far away from the stage.
This song shows off her powerful voice, yet the music video doesn't quite portray the amazingness of her vocal cords. On the other hand, it does show off her dancing ability.
Giuseppe Di Bella and Ruth Lorenzo shine in the dance scene. They pull off the choreography flawlessly, which definitely isn't easy when they are dancing in water with spray coming down on them. Ruth Lorenzo is clearly having a ball of a time, getting soaked with Giuseppe Di Bella.
As a complete package, this video is stunning in its own way. However, it lacks engagement from the viewers, with nothing to keep us interested, as such. It's not something we'd particularly repeatedly watch. Therefore it comes off average, yet the song is amazing and deserved better than 10th place, although the 2014 Eurovision Contest was extremely competitive.
First off, Justin Timberlake is the thumbnail for no reason whatsoever, this needs to be corrected, although I suppose it's giving this already popular song more hits than usual, but still it's misleading. THIS IS NOT A JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE MUSIC VIDEO! Just wanted to clarify that. This is a James Morrison and Nelly Furtado song and is still being played on the radio today. James Morrison sings in a room whilst Nelly Furtado watches through a one-way mirror before their amazing electric voices blow objects up in the room; breaking guitar strings and heart strings.
James Morrison, real name James Morrison Catchpole, was one of the biggest British male singers back in the mid-00's, having a hit with "You Give Me Something" before this one became his bestselling hit. He has a Brit award and he has sung with the likes of Jessie J and Jason Mraz. He's still releasing music, but he's fairing much better in the Netherlands than in the UK. Featured on this track is the stunningly beautiful Nelly Furtado, who was also at the height of her career in the mid-00's. This song was the Olly Murs & Demi Lovato's "Up" of the mid-00's... Nelly Furtado is also still releasing music to this day but has yet to have another global hit after the amazing "Maneater". Yet with those vocals and her gorgeous style, I bet she could easily make a comeback. This song hit number two in the UK, beaten to the top spot by Lady Gaga's "Just Dance". Itwas written by James Morrison, Fraser T Smith and Nina Woodford.
This music video was directed by Micah Meisner. Fully relatable to the song, the video is mainly a performance piece with a narrative built within. It reminds me of a cross between Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" and every video that has a wall to separate artists (there's been a lot of them so I won't type them all down).
James Morrison starts the song off in his room with his guitar. He's singing to himself in the mirror, as if he can imagine Nelly Furtado on the other side, maybe she is actually there or it's just his imagination.
Nelly Furtado jumps in with her amazing vocals, and their hands are touching on the one-way mirror. FUN COMPETITION: Nelly Furtado swaps hands for one short snapshot before switching to the original hand. Find it and either Tweet, Facebook, Instagram me or comment below the time or a photo.
This inconsistency is surprisingly annoying. Like seriously? How do you miss that? It's not okay, it really isn't.
Luckily we're distracted by the amazing song. Objects blow up in James Morrison's room as they are connecting hands on the one-way mirror. Towards the end, they fix themselves and the room is just normal again. Nelly Furtado is gone for good. It's the same as heart strings when they are broken, they learn to fix themselves and the heart heals; it becomes stronger.
This song is completely powerful, yet the video is just as powerful. Back then this was a strong music video, and it completely relates to the song. Usually, that inconsistency would knock a star off my rating, but I can't bring myself to do it because this video is amazing!
I've been waiting for this one, seeing it rise on the UK Chart, and just hoping it would appear in the top ten. There were only two choices for me this week... James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go" was the other option. It was beaten to the top spot by The Chainsmokers & Halsey with their song "Closer", which doesn't have a music video. As much as I don't want to review a James Arthur video, I may have to in the next coming weeks if it stays in the top ten, or climbs up to number one. For now, I shall avoid it as much as possible as I am not a fan at all of James Arthur. Luckily, this is my Chart Mondays review. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj work "Side To Side" in the sauna of a gym, amongst hot static guys. Ariana Grande even works out in sync on some bikes in this sexed-up music video.
Ariana Grande is the person on everybody's lips, the singer everyone is watching because she's batting out hit after hit after hit. She first appeared as Cat Valentine in Victorious. She has fully left acting behind as she has quickly made her name in the pop world. Now there's no stopping her, the future is bright for Ariana Grande. This song features Nicki Minaj, another solid singer in the music industry. Her real name is Onika Maraj, and practically everyone knows who she is. She labels herself as the 'Queen of Rap' in this song and she pretty much is, let's be honest. These two singers have worked together before, with Jessie J on the song "Bang Bang". This song was written by Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ariana Grande and Onika Maraj.
Directed by Hannah Lux Davies, it's no surprise that this is a high-quality music video. It's so thought out and extremely suggestive, especially since the song is about soreness after sex, according to Ariana Grande.
We start off with Ariana Grande and her dance troupe on bikes after a slight scene of her staring into the camera. The girls perform on the bikes, pulling off the dance routine in-sync; the choreography is well thought out and is performed to perfection. They have put a lot of effort in preparing to pull this off and it works perfectly.
The other big scene is the sauna room, where Nicki Minaj has her rap. Her and Ariana Grande are stylish and are clearly having fun and a bit of a mess around, these two clearly get along easily. The male dancers are extremely static, and although that pushes all the attention to the two singers, more movement would've been much more interesting.
There's not a lot else to say, the shower room scene is extremely steamy, and Nicki Minaj knows how to capture the attention, but that's nothing new. As a whole, it's solid and relatable and definitely full fire. The song is a massive catchy song, that will no doubt continue to rise on the charts globally.
Still reeling from the party last night, this song was stuck in my head when I woke up this morning, and I had to review the music video. This is another dancefloor filler, that you can't help but sing-a-long to. It's undeniably catchy. I never knew who it was by until I looked it up, and I'm surprised this is another song that hasn't made an impact on the charts worldwide and is yet the song we hope to hear in a club. Beenie Man and Fambo are living it up in a club, clearly drinking rum and Redbull amongst other drinks in the video, and they're totally okay.
Beenie Man, real name Anthony Davis, is a Grammy-award winning Jamaican reggae singer. He is mostly known for his 2004 hit "Dude" that features Ms. Thing and Shawnna, which hit number seven in the UK. Yet, it's this song we want to hear on the dancefloor. At just ten years old, he released his first studio album back in 1983; he has gone on to release 19 more albums and has totally proven himself as a recording artist. This song is the first in a string of singles that aren't part of an album; it was released in 2010. Featured on the track is Fambo, real name Warren Williams, who is mostly known for this hit. He has been in and out of the music industry for a while but has definitely built his career for himself.
Directed by Janelle Dyer, the video is low quality and quite old-fashioned, and yet it's viewable.
The speech bubbles are a total distraction, they don't last long enough on the screen, so it's difficult to read them in time. They don't blend enough with the visual and are totally out of place. Although it may have seemed good on paper, it doesn't work at all and cheapens the whole video.
There's not much else to comment on. There's an amazing dance scene where dancers show off their skills in a circle of bystanders. More focus on this would've been great; instead, the video flits between the club and Beenie Man's performance piece.
The performance piece is filled with energetic vibes, but there's just not enough substance to his performance. He's very relaxed, he's totally made a name for himself and he knows he has. Arrogance comes from him easily but he works it well as he sings the song.
Overall, the video is nowhere near as great as the song is. It's not on the same level at all. It's dodgy, low quality and totally uninteresting. Beenie Man and Fambo do their best to draw the attention back to the video, but their performance pieces aren't enough to keep us engaged.
I've been at a 21st house party today, and this song came on and I knew I was going to review the music video for it. This song is a jam whenever it comes on in a club; clearly, they didn't think it would blow up as big as it did because the budget was definitely low in this music video. Pushing that aside, it has a great storyline and the performance side isn't so bad. Serani tells his girl that he is playing "No Games" as he stands by her after she finds out she's pregnant.
Serani, real name Craig Marsh, has released a bunch of singles and albums, but this song is the one that has really blown up around the world. This song is the dancefloor filler in any club, with everyone singing along to the lyrics, even if they don't actually know them properly. Surprisingly, he hasn't hit the UK chart with this song, regardless of its popularity, and hasn't hit the Billboard chart in America either, instead settling on other charts in America, such as Billboard's Heatseekers chart, where he got to number 46. It's disappointing to see a very popular song not hit the big time on the charts, but all it takes is someone to cover it on a TV show to boost it up the chart, that's going to happen sometime. This song was written by Dave Antony Kelly and Craig Marsh.
The music video is definitely low budget, but it has a strong narrative with a pretty solid performance piece. If only it were more of a higher quality.
The narrative is completely relatable to the song, and although it is extremely basic, it's easy to get caught up in the storyline. I love how she panics when she finds out she's pregnant, and she runs away, but he doesn't mind. It doesn't bother him because he truly loves her. How he found out where she was staying, though, I have no idea.
The performance side is energetic. It's clear he means every word he is singing; the song is catchy and I can't help but sing-a-long; after all, it is the dancefloor filler we all know and love.
Overall, if this video was of a higher quality then this would look so much better. The narrative is simplistic but completely relatable to the song. Serani gives out great performance vibes that entertain the viewers. What more can we possibly ask for?
Another single off Aston Merrygold after many push-back dates from his album. This JLS singer isn't having the best solo career, but with this killer song he may have had the breakthrough he's been hoping for. This former JLS member shows us his dancing skills in his new music video for "I Ain't Missing You". Aston Merrygold is ready, are you?
Aston Merrygold, mostly known for his time in the boy band JLS from The X Factor, was the guy who always took the lead vocals in many of The X Factor performances, but it wasn't until the group started to release their own music that they really found their sound. JLS were the runner-up to Alexandra Burke in the fifth series of The X Factor. They went on to achieve five UK number one singles and their three studio albums were in the top three, their debut album hit number one. Ever since the split, Aston Merrygold's solo career has been hyped to the max, but soon dissipated as his singles didn't achieve the success that was anticipated. Now this song may out-do his previous attempts, especially with his album just around the corner, that's if it doesn't get pushed back again. The featured artist is LDN Noise, a producing and songwriting duo consisting of Greg Bonnick and Hayden Chapman, they are definitely making a name for themselves in the music industry and are definitely ones to watch.
This music video is a full performance piece with a slightly undeveloped narrative at the start, that sees Aston Merrygold step out of a car and strike a match before dropping it on a bag of things, presumedly things of the woman he's singing about. He's saying goodbye, because he ain't missing her.
The performance part then kicks in, and it is LIT! Seriously, I knew Aston Merrygold could move, but wow! He pulls off that choreography like it's nothing, along with his backing dancers. Fully in-sync and totally on-point, it's pretty magical.
The scene is filmed awkwardly as the camera pans in and out during the dance scene, making a less enjoyable viewing, however, it can be ignored as you see these amazing dancers perform.
Overall, it's good, but Aston Merrygold has always had a slight arrogance in the way he comes across, you can see this when he's dancing, ready to show the world what he's got and be slightly cocky with it. However, I can't blame him for that, because although the narrative is more suggestive than developed, and the performance is a bit on the cocky side; this dance sequence is perfection. I just need to learn the choreography now!
