After partying it up with King Chip in the clip for “Just What I Am,” Kid Cudi takes off and dances in the streets in his latest self-directed music video for his single “King Wizard.” Cudder keeps it low key here with a floating camera capturing his rhymes and movements without too many cuts and inside the same baroque frame as before.
Download “King Wizard” at iTunes today. A release date has not been set for Cudi’s upcoming fourth studio album Indicud which also includes the previous single “Just What I Am.” The next track to be released in 2013 is called “Immortal” and when it drops you’ll find it here.
Update: Shortly after the video hit the ‘Net, Cudder took to Twitter to clarify things. “Phase 2 of my domination has begun. King Wizard is not the official second single, just a scooby snack. Indicud in March.” So “King Wizard” may not end up on the album, and Indicud is now expected to release in March.
On November 24, “Gangnam Style” became the most-viewed video on YouTube. On that day its view count reached 805 million. Today its nearly captured 855 million looks. The South Korean rapper PSY managed to dethrone “pop sensation” Justin Bieber’s “Baby” music video, the previous record holder for most-viewed video. And as catchy, fun, agonizing or annoying you find “Gangnam Style” to be, PSY deserves at least some respect for knocking the Biebs down a peg, am I right? According to YouTube Trends, however, Justin’s 2010 single still receives between 350k and 500k views per day. But that pales in comparison to the new record holder; the song that’ll get you singing Heyyy, sexy lady is being watched 7 to 10 million times a day.
Cee-Lo Green released a Christmas album earlier this month called Cee-Lo’s Magic Moment; though it contains mostly covers of classic holiday hits like “White Christmas” and “Silent Night,” there is one original track planted inside. To promote the catchy single “All I Need Is Love,” Green collaborated with The Muppets for the second time in his career (remember his colorful rendition of “F–k You” at the Grammys?) in a fun and cheery music video that also features a cameo by The Office‘s Craig Robinson as Santa. The song, which is infused with the classic Muppets tune “Mahna Mahna,” is infectious and by the time you’re done watching this nearly seven-minute clip you’ll be humming All I need is la-la-love! My favorite part is when the newest member of the Muppets family Walter looks up to Robinson and proclaims, “So Santa’s my homie!”
It’s almost that time of year; enjoy. Download the track at iTunes.
On November 13, Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, re-released his three mixtapes as one collection in Trilogy. The 33-track album contains mixed and mastered versions of every song from House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence plus three, never-before-heard bonus tracks “Twenty Eight,” “Valerie,” and “Till Dawn (Here Comes the Sun).” At $9.99 Trilogy, which also includes the music video for “The Zone” featuring Drake, is the definition of a steal. Digital and physical ($11.99) copies are available. Trilogy was released under Universal Republic Records and Tesfaye’s own XO label. If you enjoyed his mixtapes, support a growing, talented artist by picking up Trilogy today.
In addition to dropping the album, The Weeknd also directed three music videos to promote the release. Clips were shot for “Rolling Stone,” “Wicked Games,” and the previously aforementioned “The Zone” featuring Drake. In a note directed at his fans, Tesfaye opens up and sheds light on the symbolism behind the “Rolling Stone” clip. He acknowledges that signing to a major record label and releasing a studio album in Trilogy takes him away from “the underground” and into the spotlight, but promises that “this does not mean what you think it means.” In other words, he will not be affected by his new-found fame and next-level success. “YOU WILL CONTINUE TO GET WHAT YOU FELL IN LOVE WITH, AND I WILL CONTINUE TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU ASK FOR. I’LL NEVER MAKE YOU WAIT AGAIN,” he shares in all caps.
Cudder’s released a self-directed music video for the first single off his upcoming fourth studio album Indicud. Along with featured guest King Chip and a young group of ragers, Kid Cudi mellows out and has fun partying it up and driving around town. You’ll notice that the video is framed inside a boarder that’s accustomed to holding artwork. “All my videos will be in a baroque frame. I create art, so it will be presented as such. ART IN MOTION,” explained Cudi in a tweet.
Watch the music video above, download the single here, and anticipate the second single “Immortal” coming soon.
Death Cab for Cutie lead singer Ben Gibbard ventured off and released his first solo album Former Lives. Here we have a music video for the single “Teardrop Windows” and it’s actually pretty funny. The clip, written and directed by Tom Scharpling, starts with comedian Kurt Braunohler as his manager telling Gibbard that he’s too normal to sell records; “People don’t want to buy music from normal people. People want to hear music from bad boys,” says Braunohler. After a little over a minute of setup the music finally kicks in and we watch as Gibbard attempts but miserably fail at transforming into a “bad boy.” It’s fun to watch the clean-cut singer from Death Cab for Trudie take a stab at making fun of himself.
The Internet has produced one of the most ridiculous videos I have ever seen. I’m sharing it with you, though, because it is just the right amount of entertaining for long-time followers of the critically acclaimed AMC drama Breaking Bad. YouTube channel Teddie Films has concocted a viral hit with “We Are Never Ever Gonna Cook Together,” a mashup of Breaking Bad and Taylor Swift’s new breakup single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” The clip does a good job of musically summing up the tension between Walt and Jesse that occurs in season five, and it really scores with the absurd imitations of characters like DEA agent Hank Schrader, Walt Jr., and there’s even a guy in a chicken suit representing fast food chain Los Pollos Hermanos. What takes away from this almost-solid parody are giant inconsistencies like Jesse being Asian and Skylar’s portrayer wearing an obvious wig. Things like these add to the farcical nature of the video, but I feel that it really would have exploded with fans if they were more detail-oriented. Nitpicking aside, you should definitely have a watch if you like the show. Fair warning: Swift’s song is catchy to begin with; mashed with Breaking Bad don’t surprised if you catch yourself singing “Oooo ohhh Heisenberg” throughout the day.
You’re gonna kill me; the track is available for keeps through iTunes. Peace, bitch.
Cartoon Network is celebrating twenty years of animated entertainment today; the channel first launched on October 1, 1992. CN collaborated with record label Mad Decent and London-based design shop ILOVEDUST to create this original trippy tribute. The music video contains nearly 100 cartoon characters that have graced the network’s lineup during the course of its existence. Look it’s Dexter and Johnny Bravo and The Powerpuff Girls and Courage the Cowardly Dog and Samurai Jack! See how many classic ‘toons you can spot. Enjoy your trip down nostalgia lane.
Here we have the first official music video featuring a song off Frank Ocean’s debut album Channel Orange. Clocking in at 7 minutes fifty-eight seconds it nearly matches the longevity of the album version (9:53). The clip stars Ocean on a flashy motorcycle and inside an even flashier strip club (NSFW ladies, included). John Mayer joins the festivities for the guitar solo later on the track. Ocean is hot off his “Thinkin Bout You“/”Pyramids” SNL performances.
Ever since releasing the mega-popular 21st Century Breakdown in 2009, punk rock band Green Day has been relatively quiet in terms of new material. That ends now. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool came up with so many new songs that they refuse to fit it all on a single album. In April the band announced that they plan to release a trilogy of new albums aptly titled ¡Uno!¡Dos!¡Tre! and they will come out September 25, November 13, and January 15, 2013, respectively. The first single off ¡Uno! is “Oh Love” and the music video for it, directed by Green Day clip collaborator Samuel Bayer, is embedded above. In it the band performs the catchy track in front of an audience of scantily-clad, tattooed ladies.
If you have been preparing yourself for more politics from the band who made Breakdown and American Idiot, you’re in for a surprise. Frontman Armstrong told MTV, “It was a time for us to step away [from political overtones], because we didn’t want to come across as politicians. We’re in a band first and foremost, and we wanted to have a good time making music. So it was kind of a way of us getting back to basics.” Bassist Dirnt puts the trilogy in perspective like this: “There’s a lot of that in these records. It’s kind of like getting ready and charging to the party on the first record, and then getting to the party on the second record and having an absolute great time and overstaying your welcome and doing a lot of damage, and then kind of looking for your car keys and doing some self-reflecting on the third record.”
As for the single you’re about to listen to, Armstrong describes it like this: “It’s kind of a tension ballad … instead of pulling at your heart strings, it’s like a noose pulling at your heart a little bit, and trying to keep your emotions intact. It’s very lustful, which is kind of a subject we haven’t gotten into in a long time.”
A mouthful, isn’t it? But so is this two-part music video. DJ Khaled sixth studio album Kiss the Ring is out tomorrow (August 21) and to kick-start the hype machine he enlisted famed hip-hop clip director Hype Williams to shoot a music video for the album’s single “I Wish You Would” that features Rick Ross the boss and Kanye West. At 3:53 that track comes to a halt and ‘Ye’s controversial “Cold” (formally “Theraflu” and “So Cold”) starts up. Though the track is edited and gets cut short there is a brief cameo from West’s current girlfriend Kim Kardashian, so don’t blink. Though the clips are literally all over the place with shaky cam business, Williams did a good overall with it; I especially like the parts when West’s eyes go dark and are replaced with those glow-in-the-dark slits. How does it compare to the unofficial clip from Caleb Harper aka mini Kanye? Can your headphones go louder? Check it out.
Called it. After Hit-Boy released that teaser for his second single “Old School Caddy” ya’ll knew those clips had to have been taken from a lengthier music video. And presto, here it is. In it producer-turned-rapper Hit-Boy jumps in an old school Caddy and featured artist Kid Cudi takes a new school Benz for a spin and leggy models assist. The smooth beat is the purest ear candy and the raps flow without waver from newcomer Hit-Boy and his fellow G.O.O.D. Music signee Mr. Rager. Watch it above. And if you haven’t already, download Hit-Boy’s first album HITstory for free.
