Welcome to the first episode of Video Jukebox, a weekly post where I’ll feature my favourite music videos of the week I’ve stolen the name from one of MTV’s first ever feature shows and thank goodness I’m not famous enough (yet) to be sued for such blatant trademark infringement. Video Jukebox aired at a time when MTV was just about showcasing the latest videos from the top talent, providing a platform for both the musician and the team behind the video to shine – that’s before they started providing a place for Teen ‘Moms’, Trailer Trash, Airheads and Pornstars to shine. So in an ode to what MTV used to be about and what Yin&Yang is always about (showcasing dopeness basically) here we go, the first ever ‘episode’ with visuals from Mark Ronson, Tyga, tabi Bonney/Terri Walker, GLC/Rotimi, 14th, Iggy Azalea, Clement Marfo/Kano, Phonte and Chiddy Bang. Hit the jump for the goodies!
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RE:GENERATION Track: Mark Ronson “A La Modeliste”
Mark Ronson hooks up with Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, Mos Def, Zigaboo Modeliste and The Dap Kings for the latest installment of Hyundai’s RE:GENERATION project. This video follows the creative journey from studio through to a live performance in New Orleans giving it that genuine old school jazzy feel!! Erykah Badu looks like goddess….even with her durag on! This must’ve been such an amazing project to work on, which has received lots of well-deserved coverage recently…it’s lovely to see it all wrapped up in this video! Does this mean Hyundai are cool now?
Tyga – Rack City
Earlier this week Tyga dropped the video for his popular hit, ‘Rack City’ taken from his forthcoming debut album, ‘Careless World: Rise of the Last King’. Now I don’t care much for Tyga, but I’m loving this beat produced by DJ Mustard and when I heard the music video takes on a GTA: San Andreas theme….I had to check it out!
tabi Bonney – Beautiful Lover (ft Terri Walker)
tabi Bonney is one of my favourite artists on the come-up right now! This week the self-directed visuals dropped for his track, Beautiful Lover featuring UK songstress Terri Walker, taken from his project with Ski Beatz, ‘Summer Years‘. This raunchy video features the rapper shirtless alongside a hot lingerie-wearing vixen before he decides to get fully dressed and hop into a bath full of water for the second half of the video….pretty weird but it kinda works! I highly recommend ‘Summer Years’ which you can buy from iTunes here….you won’t be disappointed.
GLC ft. Rotimi – Back to the Money
G.O.O.D. Music rapper, GLC of Spaceship/Drive Slow fame hooks up with director Teddy Waffles to showcase Chicago in the visuals for his track, “Back to the Money” featuring singer, Rotimi. Chicago is a city that gets little love overseas, the majority of videos are shot in New York or Cali so I’m really happy to see GLC showcasing his hometown on this beautifully shot black and white video! This track is taken from GLC’s project, ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Pimpin Mind’ which you can download for free here!
Beatnik Sessions – 14th – Take Me There
I love how Beatnik felt it essential to mention ‘filmed in a warehouse in east London’ just to ensure the ‘cool’ tickbox was filled. Besides that….this is a rather enigmatic, spooky version of the track, ‘Take Me There’ by electronic-soul duo, 14th which Yin introduced us to a couple of weeks back in Eargasms. If you wanna check out the original which has a two-step/garage kinda feel, check it out here! The pair explain the Outkast-related reasoning for the name 14th (which is rather lovely by the way!) and the theme of the track, ‘Take Me There’ which is escapism (an element that really comes across in this acoustic version). There’s something quite haunting about Tracey’s vocals, and the Beatnik team have really emphasised this in their shoot (in an East London warehouse don’t forget!). You can hit up 14th on their website here!
Iggy Azalea – The Last Song
I’m officially the most fickle music lover ever!! When I first came across Iggy Azalea I thought she was simply an attention-seeking Aussie with a rather amazing arse that would disappear from the interwebs this time next year. And then I saw this video….I AM IN LOVE!!!! The B&W ‘The Last Song’ video, directed by Bell Soto features the Aussie Belle in numerous gorgeous looks and poses and has racked up nearly 400,000 views in 3 days! The lyrics, her flow, those sequin pants, that Barbie hair….oh gosh I’m officially a convert!
Clement Marfo ft Kano – Mayhem
Clement Marfo and the Frontline cause absolute Mayhem in a basement club for their latest video featuring Kano. I’m fortunte enough to have seen Clement Marfo & The Frontline perform live before, and you really get a feel for their energetic, crazy live shows in this video! CTMF have been selected for MTV’s Brand New for 2012 – which you can vote for here!
Phonte – Dance In The Reign
My second favourite North Carolina rapper Phonte showcases footage from a live show with 9th Wonder in his new video for the track, ‘Dance In The Reign’ taken from his solo project, ‘Charity At Home‘. I must admit I wasn’t majorly impressed by this album unfortunately, but somehow watching the video for one of the tracks really brings it to life…might have to reload that album!
Chiddy Bang – Ray Charles
The new video for Chiddy Bang’s ‘Ray Charles’ opens with Chidera and Noah bumping some Tinie Tempah in their living room before cutting to a 50′s style video staring Chidera as….Ray Charles! This is a fun, mess-around (lol) video featuring numerous film references such as Blues Brothers, for a fun Hip Hop duo who I hope to see go even further this year with their debut album, Breakfast due out on Feb 28th!
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