Why Today’s Mainstream Music Sucks, Part 7: Lights! Camera! and iPhone!

Evidence that artists used to care.

Evidence that they could care less now.

But I guess everyone is too “gangsta” now to dance and have fun. That’s why I love the videos from the New Jack Swing era the best because people used to really dance in those videos. Everyone has just gotten lazy now. Many artists (but not all) of the 80’s and 90’s put a lot of effort into perfecting their choreography and their music, that’s why the American Music Awards and the Grammy’s used to be so exciting. But now, the only thing viewers are interested in is who arrived at the awards show with the least amount of clothing on.

Let’s look at a relatively brand new artist — Wiz Khalifa. He has no interesting music videos whatsoever. What the heck is “Roll Up”? It’s about an idiot who looks like a bird standing in front of a bunch of palm trees and there’s some shots of a car and a girl. What did you do, just fly down to Miami beach and called it a day? Is that the concept for this stupid video? This guy is supposed to be hot stuff right now, where the heck is all of his money going? Because it’s most certainly not being put to any creative use. 

I mean who really cares about this stuff anymore? It’s just a stupid music video, isn’t it? The low budget ones make zero effort to be interesting and the big budget ones are usually some green screen futuristic/electronic-influenced garbage with amateurish camera work (i.e. Nicki Minaj and Will.I.Am’s “I Can’t Believe It”).  Let’s take a trip down memory lane and see what music videos used to consist of…

• “The Way I Feel About You” by Karyn White: The whole video is reminiscent of one of those beauty and fragrance commercials, something you would see in a Chanel advertisement. It’s filmed in black and white, lots of stylish outfits and jewelry. The plot has Karyn White as a sexy maid working at a hotel, her boyfriend is the front desk clerk. When one particular high-class couple leave their room for a night on the town, Ms. White and her man make their own night in the hotel by invading the couple’s room, fooling around, and trying on their fancy attire; when the couple is on their way back upstairs, one of the boyfriend’s co-workers phones in to warn him and they have to get out in time. It’s just a fun and laid-back romantic video, very simple and adventurous, you can tell they were having fun while filming this.
• “Plush” by Stone Temple Pilots: The video looks like one hellish nightmare with a glimmer of hope at the end of it all, everything is filmed through this sort of hazy vision. The plot very much stays close to the lyrics of the song which revolve around a young girl who has become lost.
• “Victory” by Puff Daddy: A darker version of the Arnold Schwarzenegger flick, “The Running Man”, with Dennis Hopper as the villain, Danny DeVito as a reporter, and Puffy as the man on the run. Couple that with state of the art special effects and chase sequences then you’ve got one of the most expensive music videos ever made.
• “Take a Picture” by Filter: The band is featured in what appears to be a dreamlike landscape that consists of four different scenes which include beneath the ocean with no scuba gear, on the roof of a small house, on a small rowboat in the ocean, and a room flooding with water. The end result is pretty epic and artful.
• “Sittin’ Up in My Room” by Brandy: This video depicts Brandy as a girl who has one of those secretive little crushes on one particular guy. There’s a party downstairs in the house and the man of her dreams is apart of it. The video is filled with an atmosphere of pure innocence and light-hearted fun as Brandy dresses up in her room and anticipates meeting her crush downstairs at the party. Look out for some really smooth choreography during the last half.
• “Feel So Good” by Mase: Mase and the Bad Boy family take it to Las Vegas where they live it up with lots of money, fly girls, and fancy cars. Throw in spectacular lights, fireworks, smooth dancing, shiny suits, and a fish-eyed lens camera then you have one of the greatest party videos ever made. This video is all about what the title of the song declares and it clearly shows — Just going out and having a good time with style.
• “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey: Set within Rye Playland Amusement Park, Mariah Carey delivers a feel-good music video with a shimmery summer vibe to it. There’s roller coasters, a boardwalk, sunshine, Mariah dancing on rollerblades, a clown goofing off, and a little girl. 
• “Vogue” by Madonna: Stylishly filmed in black and white by David Fincher, Madonna’s “Vogue” showcases many set designs and outfits that are reminiscent to those of the 30’s and 40’s. 
• “Remember the Time” by Michael Jackson: Nobody does long music videos like Michael Jackson. At a whopping nine minutes, “Remember the Time” is a short film set in ancient Egypt that stars Iman, Magic Johnson, Eddie Murphy, and The Pharcyde. It also features excellent choreography by Fatima Robinson.
• “Every Little Step” by Bobby Brown: Much like Puffy’s remix for “Been Around The World”, Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step” is one of those videos that only utilize one set piece and put a huge emphasis on choreography, performance, and clever camera angles.

And this is what music videos consist of nowadays…