30 days of iconic music video blackness with vsb
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 18: Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett 'Don't Look Any Further'
This video is terrible. But it’s terrible so good. But it’s like really bad. Especially considering that this song and video came out in 1984. A year earlier—1983 for those less mathematically inclined individuals—saw the release of possibly the most iconic music video ever in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Think about that: a year prior, a…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 17: Queen Latifah, 'Ladies First'
Queen Latifah’s video for her single, “Ladies First,” has stayed with me since the first time I saw it, probably sometime in late 1989 or early 1990. The imagery in the song was so striking to me that even as a 10- or 11-year-old, I remember being mesmerized. The video clips, the way Queen Latifah…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 16: 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre, 'California Love'
June 16 is Tupac Amaru Shakur’s birthday. Today—June 16, 2020—he’d be 49 years old. Since it’s Tupac’s birthday and one of his singles— “California Love”—happens to feature one of the most iconic hip hop videos of all time, it only makes sense to include him here. The video for “California Love,” which was directed by…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 15: Cameo, 'Word Up!'
One day, Cameo will get the documentary they truly deserve. One trip through their video archives makes want to know everything about the group possible. Sure, Larry Blackmon is the most recognizable because he was the front-man and lead vocalist (I struggled with putting singer here), but the whole band was really out there. Seriously,…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 14: The Roots 'What They Do'
The mid-to-late 90s ushered in an era of opulence in hip hop. While Sean “Puffy” Combs gets most of the credit for taking hip hop into the “Shiny Suit” era, he was far from the only artist making music and videos that exhibited lifestyle goals more than lifestyle. And just as there was no shortage…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 13: Michael Jackson, 'Thriller'
I mean, I couldn’t “well duh” think of a video any harder than this one. “Thriller” is probably the most iconic music video of all time. Of ever. And will probably be forever. And forever is a mighty long time. It’s so iconic it’s that I guarantee you can do at least one part of…
-
30 Days of Iconic Video Music Blackness With VSB, Day 12: Juvenile 'Ha'
I first saw the video for Juvenile’s “Ha” on Rap City in, maybe, October 1998. I was sitting on my couch in my house on the west side of Atlanta, partaking of the free cable that my cousin had temporarily procured for the entire neighborhood. Rap City, back then, was a staple source of hip-hop…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 11: Ciara 'Oh'
You and I both know exactly why this video is on the list: the car scene. And here’s how fucking iconic that car scene is—it doesn’t even happen until the last minute-and-a-half of the video AND I entirely forgot what the rest of the video looked like, which is a shame because Ciara’s dancing is…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 9: Eddie Murphy 'Party All the Time'
Eddie Murphy singing was a thing in the ‘80s. And not just a random thing. He released three music albums. While most people remember “Party All The Time,” which was written and produced by Rick James, what is less remembered is that Eddie had music from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Nile Rogers…and even Michael…