Blame it on something: Jamie Foxx's 'Blame It' and music videos for an Actor's Vanity Music Project
Last night I introduced Rosemary to "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx featuring T-Pain, one of the hottest (and dumbest) songs of the year that's been blazing up hip-hop radio.
The song is hallmarked by the tin-can beats and ever-present auto-tuner, the glamor instrument of rap's arena-rock phase, idolized by rappers who grew up on Zapp and Soundwave from "Transformers," that we know is gonna sound SO OLD once this trend is over.
But back to Jamie Foxx: "Blame It" not only taps into the rap club-banger zeitgeist of the times (and T-Pain's second hit this year blaming promiscuity on booze), it also falls into the time-honored tradition of Actor's Vanity Music Project. And while Foxx actually can write and sing songs, and "Blame It" is hip on the radio, it definitely is the AVMP when it comes to the video.
What else can you say to describe a video where Hollywood player Foxx's favorite crew to roll out to the club with are Jake Gyllenhaal (huh?), Forest Whitaker (cool, but still, huh?), and ... Ron Howard.
Ron Howard? Ron Howard! Ron Howard?!? Ron "Opie" Howard?!?! RON HOWARD. Yes, folks. RON HOWARD IS IN A HIP-HOP VIDEO. Surrounded by massive amounts of T&A, holding his glass of Cristal and poppin' his collar. Director Hype Williams once made Diddy and Ma$e - a rapper with a speech impediment - look cool, but Howard is a lost cause.
And then, for extra credit, Samuel L. Jackson and Quincy Jones are already at the club, also feelin' on generic video vixens and poppin' Cris and collars. (Well, Sam smokes in slow-motion a lot, too.) And this club is also frequented by some crumpers and a dancing Panda Man. It's so lame that it's hip. Between this and "I'm on a Boat" with T-Pain and Lonely Islanders Andy Samburg and Akiva Schaffer, hip-hop has learned irony.
In honor of "Blame It," I have my new top three actor's vanity music project music videos. This is not a list of top actor's vanity music projects; the video has to send it all over the top. Also, the guys have to be actors first, then did music, so Will Smith's catalog is not here. (Especially the DMX-lite "Party Starter." Shudder.)
1. "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain. Vanity points: Ron Howard; Panda Man; vomit-inducing cuts to the beat. Key point: Panda Man is revealed at the end. I can't embed the video, so blame on the Goose, gotcha feelin' loose, blame it on Patron, gotchoo in the zone, blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.
2. "Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy (really, by Rick James). The song itself is just fine - it's Rick James, bitch, and dude always knew how to make a groove. But the video? Vanity points: Eddie walks into the studio as the band is playing the song, picks up the headphones and sings on weak-ass pitch instantly; 20 people in the booth dancing to show how AWESOME this track is. Key point: Rick James takes over the video, beginning with the Dr. Frankenstein it's-alive shot at 2:47.
3. "Heartbeat" by Don Johnson. Vanity points: Johnson's leather jacket, overuse of clenched teeth and fist to show emotion; inscrutable Vietnam/gang war/fashion backstory; star as photographer/cameraman; '80s-tastic band, set and backup singers (with choreography!) that would have been great if the lead singer weren't, y'know, Don Johnson. Key point: Johnson carries a kid from an exploding jeep, only to throw him behind a barrier onto an all-too-detectable bounce pad at 2:35. Also, this video made MTV's fabled "Twenty-five Lame," where in 1999 Denis Leary, Jon Stewart, Janeane Garofalo and Chris Kattan lambasted the 25 lamest music videos and Vanilla Ice smashed a VHS tape of "Ice Ice Baby" with a bat, scaring everyone.
What are some of your favorite AVMP music videos?
The song is hallmarked by the tin-can beats and ever-present auto-tuner, the glamor instrument of rap's arena-rock phase, idolized by rappers who grew up on Zapp and Soundwave from "Transformers," that we know is gonna sound SO OLD once this trend is over.
But back to Jamie Foxx: "Blame It" not only taps into the rap club-banger zeitgeist of the times (and T-Pain's second hit this year blaming promiscuity on booze), it also falls into the time-honored tradition of Actor's Vanity Music Project. And while Foxx actually can write and sing songs, and "Blame It" is hip on the radio, it definitely is the AVMP when it comes to the video.
What else can you say to describe a video where Hollywood player Foxx's favorite crew to roll out to the club with are Jake Gyllenhaal (huh?), Forest Whitaker (cool, but still, huh?), and ... Ron Howard.
Ron Howard? Ron Howard! Ron Howard?!? Ron "Opie" Howard?!?! RON HOWARD. Yes, folks. RON HOWARD IS IN A HIP-HOP VIDEO. Surrounded by massive amounts of T&A, holding his glass of Cristal and poppin' his collar. Director Hype Williams once made Diddy and Ma$e - a rapper with a speech impediment - look cool, but Howard is a lost cause.
And then, for extra credit, Samuel L. Jackson and Quincy Jones are already at the club, also feelin' on generic video vixens and poppin' Cris and collars. (Well, Sam smokes in slow-motion a lot, too.) And this club is also frequented by some crumpers and a dancing Panda Man. It's so lame that it's hip. Between this and "I'm on a Boat" with T-Pain and Lonely Islanders Andy Samburg and Akiva Schaffer, hip-hop has learned irony.
In honor of "Blame It," I have my new top three actor's vanity music project music videos. This is not a list of top actor's vanity music projects; the video has to send it all over the top. Also, the guys have to be actors first, then did music, so Will Smith's catalog is not here. (Especially the DMX-lite "Party Starter." Shudder.)
1. "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain. Vanity points: Ron Howard; Panda Man; vomit-inducing cuts to the beat. Key point: Panda Man is revealed at the end. I can't embed the video, so blame on the Goose, gotcha feelin' loose, blame it on Patron, gotchoo in the zone, blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.
2. "Party All the Time" by Eddie Murphy (really, by Rick James). The song itself is just fine - it's Rick James, bitch, and dude always knew how to make a groove. But the video? Vanity points: Eddie walks into the studio as the band is playing the song, picks up the headphones and sings on weak-ass pitch instantly; 20 people in the booth dancing to show how AWESOME this track is. Key point: Rick James takes over the video, beginning with the Dr. Frankenstein it's-alive shot at 2:47.
Click to view3. "Heartbeat" by Don Johnson. Vanity points: Johnson's leather jacket, overuse of clenched teeth and fist to show emotion; inscrutable Vietnam/gang war/fashion backstory; star as photographer/cameraman; '80s-tastic band, set and backup singers (with choreography!) that would have been great if the lead singer weren't, y'know, Don Johnson. Key point: Johnson carries a kid from an exploding jeep, only to throw him behind a barrier onto an all-too-detectable bounce pad at 2:35. Also, this video made MTV's fabled "Twenty-five Lame," where in 1999 Denis Leary, Jon Stewart, Janeane Garofalo and Chris Kattan lambasted the 25 lamest music videos and Vanilla Ice smashed a VHS tape of "Ice Ice Baby" with a bat, scaring everyone.
What are some of your favorite AVMP music videos?