Originally written for Passionweiss
Modern rap videos seem to
direct themselves. They have 2-3 scenes. The artist does their best frowny face
and points a finger gun at the camera. There’s a cool rented car, a gritty
urban backdrop, a seductive vixen and an appearance from another popular
artist. You submit one view to YouTube and the hip-hop bots tirelessly start
the next project on the content assembly line.
As major rap labels edge
closer to the precipice of irrelevance, creativity is the first casualty in
their Soundscan scramble. Like Doc Zeus stated in his article on Jeezy’s recentcolourless album, labels are trying to stay profitable by relying on unchanging
methods. Popular guests are recycled as Chris Brown cashes another check for
singing “the ladies track” and artists collaborate with the same dependable
producers in pursuit of that Billboard debut. This clinical formula for success
has sucked the life out of music videos, and often the visual art form is
reduced to a few cliché scenes hastily packaged into a marketing plan.
The 90s golden era is
largely an invention of nostalgia and there’s plenty of cringeworthy examples
from the past too, but it’s undeniable that budget cuts have impacted the
quality of music videos. The days of feeding supermodels champagne by the crateduring a million dollar trip to the Trinidad Carnival are long gone. But money
shouldn’t limit creativity. The best clips can be shot with no budget on a
stolen camcorder or a third-hand smartphone. Chief Keef rapping in his mother’s
kitchen or flashing a UZI is more exciting than French Montana dapping Rick
Ross for the sixth time.
A depressingly
relevant illustration is Juicy J’s single “Ice.” The uninspired video fails to
capitalise on three of the most charismatic major players in rap. The legendary
Memphis misogynist rhyming alongside Dungeon Family’s emotional cyborg Future
and the A$AP Mob’s sole creative Ferg sounds vibrant in theory. Unfortunately
the clip, which premiered on Worldstar, doesn’t feature a frostbitten Future
surrounded by mean-mugging snowmen. Cold, sterile and coma inducing, it barely
packs anything interesting at all.
The trio unexplainably
recite verses in a disused warehouse and on neon lit stairs. They fulfil the
metaphor of wearing diamond-frosted jewellery (ice, geddit?) and for some
reason lingerie babes pose seductively between scenes. In a storyboard that any
armchair rap fan would have conjured in five minutes, the only quirky surprise
is Juicy’s Brazzers t-shirt and a quick glimpse of celebrity jeweller TV
Johnny.
Posted on popular blogs and delegated to page two within half
a day, a new uninspired video is released as quickly as yesterday’s is
forgotten. Nicki Minaj’s cartoonish booty showcase “Anaconda” sabotages attempted
creativity by including excessive product placement. The hypersexual clip
randomly features dancers in front of a huge sign for fruit-infused Moscato
brand MYX Fusions, the detox tea MateFit, a Beats Pill speaker and VSX workout
gear.
G-Unit might have gone
independent, but they’re not doing much better. On recent track “Watch Me,” Eif
Rivera resorts to his familiar method of using quick cut scene changes to
disguise zero interesting concepts. Nausea inducing editing can’t compensate
for the rapping in a hallway cliché or the cheesy drummer pretending to play
the “rock inspired” beat.
Some modern artists do
get it right though. Missy Elliot, involved in some of the most bizarre and
well-choreographed visuals of all time, has recently directed two great flicks for her
artist Sharaya J. Vice nailed a potential video of the year for Action
Bronson’s “Easy Rider”.
What most rap videos
are missing is some unpredictability – a cool surprise or the willingness of
the director to push the artist to do something different. Despite our
unlimited appetite for content, some images don’t fade once the press cycle is
finished. We remember Ghostface’s hat, T.I rapping in front of Shawty Lo’s
projects and Pimp C burning dollar bills.
Music videos should be treated as an art form not a necessary rehash of the
same ideas.