The 5 Best Videos Of The Week
Apparently, we’re still doing stuff like this. We’re still taking beloved old scraps of kids’ culture, degrading them, and acting like this whole act is in any way subversive. This whole approach is not played out at all. Good to know. This week’s picks are below.
5. Blueface – “Thotiana (Remix)” (Feat. Cardi B) (Dir. Cole Bennett)
There is a bit at the end of this video where Cole Bennett, the doofy white kid who has somehow become the video director of choice for a whole young generation of rap insurgents, attempts to do Blueface’s dance. I found this to be utterly charming. This probably just means I’m an easy mark, but if you’ve been reading this column, you already knew that.
4. Vampire Weekend – “Harmony Hall” (Dir. Emmett Malloy)
Ezra Koenig looks good in lipstick, and he also looks good in a fisheye lens. To watch this video is to wonder how you can get invited to go eat universe-shaped pancakes with Vampire Weekend and Dev Hynes and Jonah Hill. It doesn’t take a whole lot of craft to simply point a camera in the direction of a few famous people who are enjoying each other’s company, but sometimes it works anyway.
3. Juicy J – “Let Me See” (Feat. Kevin Gates & Lil Skies) (Dir. Joe Weil)
I have to imagine that this video only exists because somebody noticed that Kevin Gates and Bill Gates have the same last name. Nevertheless, this is a video where Juicy J dresses like Steve Jobs. It’s also a video with a built-in comedy sketch where the whole joke is that Big Neck and Daddy Long Neck — two viral rappers whose online fame makes me feel like I’m living in a Harmony Korine movie — are wearing turtlenecks. It’s great, obviously.
2. Aldous Harding – “The Barrel” (Dir. Martin Hagadin)
Usually, behind-the-scenes videos are a colossal waste of time. This time, though, I would appreciate one, mostly because I have some questions. Like: Who pitched this freaky, freaky thing? And: How did that conversation go?
1. Zack Fox & Kenny Beats – “Square Up” (Dir. Reggie)
Yes. Punch these people. Punch all of them. Punch everyone.