Last week was relatively quiet in terms of new music video drops, but there were still some notable ones from John Mayer, Raekwon, B.o.B, and more. Check out everything I rounded up below, along with my reactions.
Karriem Riggins – Bahia Dreamin’
Karriem Riggins has had a hell of a run over the past year or so. Executive producing Common’s last album, providing the backbone for Kanye’s “30 Hours”, and collaborating with a number of other high profile acts. He’s kept that momentum going with the recent release of his infectious instrumental tape Headnod Suites that’ll have you grooving like the lady in this video. It’s a simple video that evokes the vibes of his music, with a little surprise twist at the end. If you haven’t heard of Riggins yet, then you desperately need to.
Cadenza, Allan Kingdom – Vibes
Allan Kingdom makes his second appearance in the last three weeks and just like the name implies, the song is pure vibes. I can’t help but get vibes of early CuDi with the atmospheric, spacey production and melodic rapping. I haven’t heard too much of his stuff, but I’m really liking what I’ve been hearing lately. The video for “Vibes” is actually an animated lyric video, but I love the 90’s MTV animated style and perfectly times pop ups.
KYLE – iSpy
There seems to be a rise of these new, so nerdy it’s (almost) cool artists that are popping up in hip-hop these days. As much as I want to hate this, I really can’t, not even with the bane of all hip-hop heads, Lil Yacthy on it. It’s a fun song that has a catchy melody and while it’s corny as hell, it is a nice reprieve from all the gangster/trap rap out there these days. The video continues that corniness with the two rappers portraying kids on a playground surrounded by beautiful bikini clad women and bright colors.
B.o.B – 4 Lit
At one point in time there was no doubt in my mind that B.o.B would be the next big thing in music. He was a rare talent that was gifted in multiple areas of music and wasn’t bound by any genre. But for whatever reason things just never really clicked and he’s been wandering from one project to the next ever since. Unfortunately “4 Lit” is yet another one of those ‘meh’ songs that lacks anything memorable. The video is just as meh as the song itself; girls in lingerie, flashing lights, and smoke. Meh.
Raekwon – M&N
Raekwon just hit us with the extremely satisfying album The Wild. It had a lot of what I wanted to hear from a modern project from the chef and he’s been steadily dropping visuals for it since last year. I wasn’t feeling “M&N” all that much as a song, but the comically bad video he just gave us for it almost makes up for that entirely. From the horrendous CGI submarine, to the PVC periscope, to the incredibly fake bamboo forest, this is one video that should have never seen the light of day.
John Mayer – Still Feel Like Your Man
It’s been around 4 years since we last heard a new project from Mr. John Mayer. In large part due to a lot of self-inflicted problems and public backlash, but he’s finally returned to the spotlight and he’s promised a return to form to the type of music that made him so popular to begin with. So far so good with the extremely smooth and sensual ode to his ex-girlfriend. The video has some weird dancing and oddly placed Japanese visuals, but then again his music has never been as weird as the man himself.
What’d you think about this week’s videos? Which ones were your favorites? Did I miss any that I should check out? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to subscribe to stay up with all the new content.
