I am still behind on my blog, and it's all Fergie's fault for dropping new music video after new music video which I covered on CelebMix, including this one. Okay, so it's not all Fergie's fault; recently, as I was finally catching up, INNA decided to release a brand new single every day of the week for seven days, which I also covered for CelebMix around my usual articles. I am flat-out right now, but that doesn't stop me intending to catch up on my blog, especially since I have been nominated for a UK Blog Award, don't forget to vote for me. Now, I'm not so keen on this music video, and thought it'll be an easy one for me to cover as I attempt to catch up. Watch Fergie showered and covered in glitter as Denna Thomsen turns the song into an epheral dance sequence in this interesting music video for "Love Is Pain" as part of the Double Dutchess: Visual Experience.
Fergie, full name Fergie Duhamel and previously known as Stacy Ferguson, is best known as being the sole female member of The Black Eyed Peas. She released her second studio album this year, to various critical reviews - personally, I absolutely loved it, check out my CelebMix review. The album really shows her versatility as an artist and should definitely help her pave way to an exciting future. This song is the last track on the album and it is incredible by itself because of how much of a personal track it is, although there are much better songs on the album - to be honest. The song was written by Fergie Duhamel and Toby Gad.
Directed by Nina McNeely, this music video is definitely full of glitter, blood, dancing, emotion, and grit. Fergie sure knows how to perform, and boy does she do just that. She's full of performance vibes and every single word of this song really manages to hit home. It resonates deeply with every listener.
However, it's not all great. There's really not a lot going on, and although Denna Thomsen is incredible in interpreting the song into an interesting dance routine, it feels like there's no substance to it. This would've worked so much better if it was Fergie doing the dancing, instead the constant switching between Fergie and Denna Thomsen manages to throw some of the emotion away.
Overall, this music video should've been better, but considering the incredible videos that are also a part of the Double Dutchess: Visual Experience, all can be forgiven for this one. It is highly emotional, both the song and the music video, but Fergie brings it like no one else can and that really pushes Denna Thomsen's visuals into the background.
I wasn't sure what music video to review today; and, since BTS has certainly proved that they are a force to be reckoned with, pushing k-pop into international mainstream music; it's about time they made it on to my blog. They continue to release songs that get everyone enjoying. The BTS Army - their fans - are sure making waves all around the world as they continue to support BTS in every single way, and it's admiring how they've managed to become an international chart-successful group. Watch BTS take us to the galaxy whilst they show off their incredible dancing in this universe inspired music video for their song "DNA".
BTS are a seven-piece boy group from South Korea, consisting of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. The group was formed by Big Hit Entertainment and they released their debut single in 2013. Since then, they have been building their fanbase, determined on making a global impact, and they sure have done that. BTS are the group to watch as they bring k-pop into mainstream music with the intention of keeping it there and truly allowing it be a genre flooding charts and radio. This is not one of those one-off singles, k-pop is finally here to stay, truly and properly. This song managed to chart all over the world, including my home country of the UK. "DNA" was written by Pdogg, Supreme Boi, "hitman" Bang, Suga, and Rap Monster (RM).
The music video was directed by YongSeok Choi. It shows enhanced images of DNA whilst the guys perform choreography that mimics the chemical structure of the molecule. It uses CGI-enhanced sets that really emphasise BTS in every way. Their performance piece is so on-point, there's no way I can fault them on their dancing.
Just wow! This group sure knows how to put on a show. Just imagine the amazing energy they would bring on stage at one of their gigs or live shows. They're all in such perfect sync and they literally go all out. The choreography is completely complex, to the extent that I reckon high-profiled artists would not be able to pull that off. If it was just them performing, then it'll certainly be getting my maximum five stars.
However, the scenes aren't easy to follow and the whole thing comes off as a bright explosion whilst being completely quirky, and not in a good way. It is addicting, enough to put anyone into a trance, but it doesn't follow anything, making it quite confusing to any viewer - I guess DNA itself can be confusing to those who don't understand it. BTS are on form, and I can't wait to see their world domination intention become reality because I am so ready.
We finally have a music video for this number one song, just as it steeply falls down the UK chart. I could've done with this when it was at number one instead of having to keep mentioning it didn't have a music video, which was true at the time. Now as it drops out of the top ten and Camila Cabello stays strong at the top spot with "Havana" featuring Young Thug (she's later knocked off, but this blog is backdated); we get to watch the music video and I get to review it for my Chart Mondays review. Watch Post Malone fight with samurai swords covering himself and the room with blood as a battle rages on in this music video for "rockstar" featuring 21 Savage.
Post Malone, real name Austin Post, is a hip-hop artist who has had a number of hit songs in the US. It takes a lot for hip-hop tracks to make it over the water to the UK, but this track surely did, whereas his previous tracks only charted moderately well. Personally, I think this song did so well because of it not having a music video, and only the chorus was released on YouTube, therefore sending everyone on to streaming services to hear the song - just like Drake did with his song "One Dance"; which still doesn't have a music video. This song features 21 Savage, real name Shayaa Abraham-Joseph. He is an American rapper who has been making some waves in the music industry, this song has certainly pushed his success, that's for sure. This song was written by Austin Post, Shayaa Abraham-Joseph, Louis Bell, and Olufunmibi Awoshiley.
Directed by Emil Nava, the music video takes inspiration from Japanese action film Lady Snowblood. There are narrative scenes throughout but this is mainly a performance piece. Post Malone brings a bit of energy, but it's 21 Savage that truly shines in this video when it comes to stage presence.
As for the sword fighting, it's interesting but doesn't seem to tell any sort of story, there's just Post Malone dressed in white with his backup women fighters also wearing white, as they stab and slash at the enemies who are men, dressed in black, spreading their blood over themselves and the room, before it's all washed away with sprinklers in the final shot.
That's all there is to this music video, nothing stands out, the snake has too much screen time especially when it isn't doing anything specific, and there's just too much blood. It's obsessive and over the top, and doesn't really relate to the song much.
Now, how have I not reviewed this yet? My favourite collaboration in the whole world and the song is such a jam too! Well, it's time I rectify this and write up a review of this music video. The song is a killer but it nearly didn't get released, as it was originally an Inna song, with her singing slightly different lyrics, it was "from Argentina to Mexico", but it obviously got changed for this collaboration - to be fair it does feel more like an Alexandra Stan song. It works well as a collaboration and certainly brings the fire. Many people referred to it as the Romanian answer to Shakira & Rihanna's "Can't Remember To Forget You". Watch Alexandra Stan and Inna wear sexy clothes as the perform this song and knock out some killer choreography, whilst Daddy Yankee performs a segment in this music video for "We Wanna".
Alexandra Stan is one of the biggest female Romanian artists around at the moment, she went viral with her song "Mr Saxobeat" which charted all around the world, she hasn't managed to follow through with that success with any of her follow-up songs, although most of them are flat-out amazing and catchy in every way - just take a listen and you'll have no choice but to agree. This collaboration sees another top Romanian female artist perform the song alongside her. Inna, real name Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu, is a worldwide artist and has over two billion views on YouTube. She has fans in countries all around the world and rose to fame with hit singles "Hot", "Amazing" and "Sun Is Up". She's collaborated with big stars and hit it big again with "More Than Friends", "Cola Song", and "Good Time". Yet, it's her latest singles that have risen to the top with "Gimme Gimme" and "Ruleta" having over 100 million YouTube views. I am waiting for the day she has a global chart hit in every country - it's bound to happen sometime soon. They later collaborated together, again, on G Girls' "Call The Police". Featuring on this track is Daddy Yankee, real name Ramón Rodríguez, who is one of the biggest latino singers around, he's hit it big a number of times, most notably with "Gasolina" and extremely recently with "Despacito". This time, he's bound to stay on form and hit out chart single after chart single. This song should've been a worldwide hit; disappointingly so, it only charted in a few countries, turning this into a treasured hit by many. The song was written by Ramón Ayala, Jacob Luttrell, Andreas Schuller, and Thomas Troelsen.
Directed by Khaled Mokhtar, Dimitri Caceaune, and David Gal, this music video is another performance piece from Romanian artists Alexandra Stan and Inna, as well as Puerto Rican artist Daddy Yankee. However, the female singers switch it up by actually performing a dance sequence. Yes, Alexandra Stan and Inna are actually dancing in this visual.
The visual starts off with a Lenovo phone ringing, suggesting that the song's backing track would be perfect as a ringtone. Someone flips the phone over and answers the call from Alexandra Stan - could this possibly be Inna's phone?
We then flit over to a close up of a chandelier and various other shots as the collaboration between Alexandra Stan and Inna truly begins. This song combines the Saxobeats and the Club Rockers, making both fandoms very happy that their dreams of a duet is finally here.
The following scenes see both artists perform the song in various outfits and settings. Alexandra Stan is overly sexualised, to the extent where all eyes are on her. I hate most of the outfits she is wearing, and she just comes across too much of a try-hard. Inna, on the other hand, is more reserved in her fashion choices and certainly comes off a lot better. My favourite performance segment, apart from the dancing scene, is totally Inna's stage scene. Although each scene, from each of the artists, are pure fire, these women sure know how to bring the energy.
As for Daddy Yankee, he clearly filmed his segment somewhere else, but the constant switching from scenes makes it feel like he was actually there. He brings the same amount of energy throughout whilst Alexandra Stan and Inna prepare for their dance battle and choreographed sequence - this is the scene that grabs us all.
Overall, this song is a complete banger of a tune - it should've been a worldwide hit. The accompanying music video is overly sexualised, although it looks like Alexandra Stan and Inna had loads of fun during the party at the end, and it sure gains kudos for their dance sequence, which is pure fire. Both these artists need to do full-on choreography in one of their upcoming music videos because they are certainly more than capable. It's also nice to see Daddy Yankee break up the song with his segment. A perfect song and a pretty great video.
Okay, time to kill me now... Can you believe I've never seen this music video? Yeah, I know, I know. It's the most watched video on YouTube at the moment, and I still haven't seen it. Well, this week I'm having a Daddy Yankee addiction, and I cannot believe I haven't covered this on my blog - mainly because the Justin Bieber remix made it go global and I kept on hoping that version would get a music video, but it never did. This version, surprisingly, is a bit different to the remix and it is very noticeable. Watch Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee perform in La Perta neighbourhood and the bar La Factoría in San Juan, Puerto Rico in this music video for the global international hit song "Despacito".
Luis Fonsi, real name Luis López-Cepero, is a world-renowned Latin-pop singer, who's mainly known for this song due to its popularity. It literally blew up and then Justin Bieber adding his vocals to the remix certainly launched this song into a worldwide hit. Luis Fonsi has been in the music industry since the late 90's and has certainly proved that hard work and persistence definitely pays off. Finally, he's now known all around the globe. He definitely deserves it, especially looking at his contributions to music over the years. All it takes is that one song to launch someone. He's been hitting Latin charts for many years, though. Featuring on this track is Daddy Yankee, real name Ramón Rodríguez. He's the one who hit charts hard with "Gasolina" but didn't keep the chart hits although he certainly made a name for himself. This collaboration pushed him right back into the spotlight, although he's been trying to do so for many years; only this time Daddy Yankee is here to stay, that's for sure. With the release of this song, Latin-Pop has returned to charts around the world, it's popular once again and it's not going anywhere at all. The song was written by Luis Rodríguez, Erika Ender, and Ramón Ayala.
Directed by Carlos Perez, this music video really hasn't got a lot to it, surprisingly! I was so expecting an incredible music video in every way, one that will amaze and shock me, especially since it's the most watched video on YouTube at the moment. Why is this not incredible, it's completely mediocre - people need to watch better music videos.
Starring in the music video is Miss Universe 2006 winner Zuleyka Rivera. We watch her walk the neighbourhood and act sexily, whilst Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee bring energetic performance vibes, ones we totally expect to see on stage, one day.
If anything, Luis Fonsi impresses as he takes on some of the choreography throughout, although it's only a step or two whereas the backing dancers go all out. The music video ends with them in a popular bar as the song finishes.
Overall, there's nothing much to this music video, it's a typical Latin-Pop performance visual, with nothing exciting to keep us entertained; well, unless you count that one risque dance move that will shock anyone watching this for the first time. I was expecting something so much better than this average video, that's for sure.
As soon as this dropped, I knew I'd be using it as my New Release for this date, after writing up about it for CelebMix. The song has been out for over two weeks now, but this blog is backdated as I attempt to catch up on my blog posts. I have supported Sam Callahan since I stumbled across "Runaway Train", and have continued to support him as the years have gone by, he even became Artist of the Month on my blog, back when I was focusing on those posts. Now he's got another brilliant song out, and I can't get enough of it. Watch Sam Callahan walk through a forest as three women throw colour powder over him and cling to his tee, eventually ripping it from him in this sexy music video for "Burns Like Fire".
Sam Callahan is a UK male singer-songwriter who has been releasing music for many years. Most notably, he was a contestant on the tenth series of The X Factor, where he made it to the live shows and came seventh overall. Since then he has been working on new music and has been dropping a lot of teasers, we've already had "Bigger Things", which was then followed up with "I Love It When You", and now we've got "Burns Like Fire" which is an extremely addicting track. He later dropped a remix and a live acoustic version of the track. The song was written by Sam Callahan and Jamie Sellers.
Directed by Johnny Marchtta, this music video has to be Sam Callahan's best one to date, for sure. There's not a lot going on throughout, as this male singer-songwriter walks slowly through the forest. Acting as his three love interests are actresses and models Rebecca Liddle, Jo Marney, and Jazmine Martin.
Taking the "before it all blew up in my face" lyric and turning it into colour powder, this music video centres around that. As Sam Callahan walks through the forest, each girl approaches, throws the colour powder at him, clings on to him, and pulls at his t-shirt.
By the end, all three women surround him and throw powder before attempting to tear his t-shirt off him; they eventually do and we're treated to a topless Sam Callahan. We then see him wake up in bed - it was all some weird colourful dream, or so he thinks. He flings the duvet from him and we see that he's covered in the colour powder. What really happened then? Your guess is as good as mine.
Overall, it's a clever concept of a music video. It's addicting, enjoyable, and interesting in every way. They all look like they had great fun filming the video, although it's clear that Sam Callahan's necklace gets in the way at times. I hope the future music videos from this talented male singer is of the same high quality.
I just had to review this song for my Thursday Revisit, since this is Daddy Yankee's only UK hit before his collaboration with Luis Fonsi, on "Despacito" came along. I've been aware of him ever since, though, and he has collaborated with some of my favourite singers including Inna, Alexandra Stan, and Fergie. It's about time he's gained international success once again, and I'm so glad "Despacito" enlightened the world to Daddy Yankee since he has many better songs than this one to be his identifiable track. Watch Daddy Yankee bring reggaeton to the world as women dance to "Gasolina" all before he switches it up and brings a serious spin for "King Daddy" in this double music video.
Daddy Yankee, real name Ramón Rodríguez, is from Puerto Rico and he has had quite the lengthy career. He's definitely one of the biggest male Latin and Reggaeton artists around. This song is his first international hit, and it even managed to chart at number five on the UK chart. Since then he has made astronomical waves in the music industry, and almost a decade later he returned to the UK Chart with "Despacito", at number one. This time, I imagine Daddy Yankee will stay in the charts around the world. The music video is a double video, the first half is "Gasolina", which is the song that charted in various countries around the world, it was written by Ramón Ayala and Eddie Ávila. Whereas "King Daddy" was written by Ramón Ayala, and wasn't released as an official single.
Directed by Carlos Pérez, the music video is a pure performance visual with very little going on within. Daddy Yankee sure knows how to perform, he's got that hip-hop energy we're so used to seeing from many amazing rappers; however, he brings it in a totally different style, and we fully love it.
As for the women, they can dance but it's all a little awkward as there isn't any choreography, they're just moving to the beat. There's nothing special about them, apart from the fact they are here to sex up the video. Then the video just flips.
When "King Daddy" kicks in, there's a whole serious spin as we see people walking with riot shields. It looks like a narrative will appear, but this doesn't happen and we see Daddy Yankee just continue to perform. He sure has energy, but this is a very basic music video that deserved to have been much better.
Those of you who know me, know I'm not a fan of Bruno Mars; actually, I really don't like the majority of his songs, and this is one of them. But I am so far behind on my blog that I literally hate myself right now, so as I try to fly through catch-up blogs, I don't have time to be picky on the music videos I choose to review and this one literally just came into my head. It wasn't quite a hit for Bruno Mars, but the video sure got people talking. Watch Bruno Mars play the piano and sing a song to Zendaya through the walls of the hotel asking her to take her dress off in this music video for "Versace On The Floor".
Bruno Mars, real name Peter Hernandez, is one of the biggest American male singers in the world. He's dipped into various genres but is mainly known for his R&B, funk, and pop music. His latest album faired pretty well on charts around the world, as he continues to dominate the music industry with unstoppable songs, however his latest singles from this album hasn't exactly been global hits; even though they are undeniably catchy. This is certainly one of them, with its unsubtle lyrics. Unfortunately, this is not a collaboration with Zendaya, although if it were, I reckon it would've got better chart placements since I was expecting her luscious female vocals to break up Bruno Mars' perfectly. This song was written by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Christopher Brody Brown, and James Fauntleroy.
Directed by Cameron Duddy & Bruno Mars, this music video doesn't have a lot going on in it. It's a slight performance piece from Bruno Mars, but since he is stuck behind the piano most of the video, it doesn't entertain the audience all that much; therefore making Zendaya with the spotlight - oh why didn't she sing in this?
The narrative kicks off the visual as Bruno Mars steps out of an elevator and walks up to his hotel door, all the while checking out Zendaya, who's just standing at her door waiting to step inside; they share a look before retiring to their own rooms. This is where Bruno Mars plays the piano and starts to sing, clearly very loudly as Zendaya can hear it in her room next door, but instead of complaining, she enjoys the music.
That's about it to this music video, Zendaya - full name Zendaya Coleman - dances around the room, and moves in rhythm to the song. She acts sexily when the lyrics suggest, and eventually, her Versace dress falls to the floor and we presume she's the one who knocks on Bruno Mars' door.
The music video is quite relatable to the song, and it does have the same slow pace as the track. The song isn't all that entertaining unless you enjoy Bruno Mars' risque lyrics that have no subtlety to them at all. I just wish there was something more to this, it's sensual but just not enough. Plus, Zendaya so should've featured on this song, even just for this music video alone.
Gosh, I've had this song stuck in my head all day! To be fair, you can't really blame me, as it certainly is catchy. I'm delighted to have found the music video, although it is just a stage performance music video, so nothing special whatsoever. Watch Miley Cyrus perform as Hannah Montana and sing "Old Blue Jeans" in front of a crowd during a gig in this music video.
Hannah Montana was a TV series that ran between 2006 and 2011 on the Disney Channel, which saw Miley Cyrus take on lead character Miley Stewart, who lives a double life as an average school girl and a famous recording artist called Hannah Montana. I have never seen a single episode of this series - since I did not have the Disney Channel at the time - but I did see the movie, which was pretty good. There are many catchy songs that have come from the TV show, this certainly being one of them. It later led to some of the songs charting in some countries as Miley Cyrus' own music career launched. The song was never released as an official single, but it did get this music video. "Old Blue Jeans" was written by Michael Bradford and Pam Sheyne.
This is just a concert music video. A pure performance visual, obviously. It really does leave me with little to say. Although, it's clear the audience fully enjoyed the show throughout.
As expected, Miley Cyrus brings it dressed as Hannah Montana; and just like the song she is wearing a hell of a lot of denim, although she's not wearing some old blue jeans, that's for sure.
There's a lot of energy being spread in the music video as they perform with instruments and the dancers are full of life. It really does transcend perfectly to the audience.
Although this is a good gig music video, they so could have given this song a much better visual. There's so much good energy and as a gig music video, it isn't so bad but still could've been better.
I am still behind on my blog, and it's all CelebMix's fault for being slow, it's Fergie's fault for dropping a new music video each day, and recently, it's INNA's fault for dropping a new promotional single a day. Regardless, I'm determined to catch up on my blog, eventually - I will catch up, I promise. So, here is another Chart Mondays, backdated to 20 November 2017, where Camila Cabello is still at number one with "Havana" featuring Young Thug - she's still at the top spot right now - so it opens the top ten to my review, and Mabel has been inside for some time, and is at number ten on this day, about to drop out fully. Watch Mabel and Kojo Funds dance in a low-light club as they perform their collaborative song "Finders Keepers".
Mabel, full name Mabel McVey, is a Swedish singer who was born in Spain, and currently lives in the UK. She is the daughter of Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVey. She has released mixtapes, EPs, and various singles, clearly leading up to an album, eventually. This song is her only hit to date, although I reckon she'll have another one as the years go by. She's confident, sassy, and clearly in love with her music and we get all that from this clip alone. I definitely suggest you keep an eye on Mabel as she builds up her career. The song features Kojo Funds, who is an emerging rapper from London. He's definitely creating his own waves in the industry, collaborating with some of the best artists. I reckon we'll be hearing from him a lot more in the future. The song was written by Mabel McVey, Jordan D. Reid, Marlon Roudette, Errol Bellot, and Steven Marsden.
Directed by Savanah Leaf, this music video is a pure performance visual that contains a lot of dancing. It has a current grime feel to it, and the club sure emulates that in every way.
There really isn't a lot going on in the visual. Mabel brings it when she's singing the song, but she looks like she's more interested in clubbing and dancing with the dancers and Kojo Funds, rather than actually sending the song out to the viewers in the visual.
The dancing is freestyle throughout with no choreography whatsoever, it's not impressive and doesn't bring anything to the table. It's all relaxed and just comes off simple. I feel some clips are repeated, and there's just nothing to this. Kojo Funds adds great energy at the start of the video, but it's just not enough.
