eversonpoe:

meowism:

put your computer on mute and watch this video. jay-z is killing it visually. listening wise…not so much for me.

you’re right. visually, this is incredible. but this song is really, really terrible.

I like Jay-Z,and I like this song. The video was directed by artist Sam Brown, according to Rolling Stone, but I can’t seem to find anything about him.

But it is a music video, and I like that the visuals challenge the lyrics, echo and question their true meaning. The video challenges hip hop culture in general; it adopts the same attitude I’ve always admired about Jay-Z, the fuck-you-I’ll-do-what-I-want-to-do attitude. I don’t know how many rap fans will take the time to look at all the images in this video and figure out how they reflect the words, or if they’ll recognize it as an important step forward in pushing mainstream hip hop towards a better future - because if we can’t go back lyrically to Wu-Tang days, I at least want more intelligent music videos - but hopefully they like it and it inspires them. Sometimes that’s all it takes to make the shift from boring, booty-shakin’, bling-swingin’ videos to more culturally aware works of art. With swagger.

This video was released at midnight on December 31st, effectively making it the first music video of this new decade; I think it’s set a good standard.