Video Watch #4: Scarface, “High Note” (NSFW)
Promises to do a “video watch” post a week failed to materialize, but that’s the beauty of a blog that you don’t get paid for—all promises are empty! However, I’m feeling ready to renew my efforts (to some extent) in the new year after being inspired by this latest offering from Scarface, which can only be described as a masterclass.
First things first: you may think I’m just posting this joint because of the T&A, but I also have a point to make about T&A, so I think it’s justified. Just this morning, I saw a clip posted by Suburban Monarch John Brown in which Rik Cordero makes an interesting point about the current role of the music video: Because videos are largely consumed via the Internet and budgets are a fraction of what they used to be, artists don’t have the pressure to only make videos for the radio single. They can make more videos (think Joell Ortiz—in the past you’d never see an artist like him with that many videos), and they can create visuals for some of the more personal, story-driven tracks that might have been overlooked in the past. Scarface’s “High Note” video is a good testament to this shift. Hit the jump for the video and my thoughts.
Just as cable TV opened up the realm of possibilities for what type of programming could be made, it may be that the open, cheap, and largely uncensored platform of the Web can drastically affect the type of videos that get made. Rap videos that border on pornography are nothing new. Uncle Luke and Snoop have given us plenty of uncomfortable “should I have a boner or not?” moments in the past, and who can forget the credit-carding tomfoolery of “Tip Drill,” the insane strip club/rap montage in Killa Season, of the monstrosity that is Mike Jones’ “Drop and Gimme 50“?
The thing about those videos, though, is that they are blissfully indulgent, almost to the point of self-parody. Regular videos are to Maxim what these are to a cheap wank mag. But in the Scarface video, it’s not just nudity for nudity’s sake. Rather, it’s how a regular video would be if it was on, say, HBO instead of BET. Or the Internet, for that matter! Even if the girl was in the usual music video bedroom scene garb, this would be a great clip—simple, story-driven, and funny. But the eye candy and the almost too graphic shots of ‘Face putting in work like a walrus seal (sorry, ‘Face) just give it that extra hue of reality. If these videos aren’t going to see the light of day on television anyway, why not push the medium and take advantage of the new space? “Scarface” the rapper may be retiring from rap, but he’s leaving the game as much of an innovator as when he entered it.
