In a world of her own
Our resident Kiss92 DJ / journo is delighted to see music videos like Rihanna's Sledgehammer becoming sort of relevant again
Over the past couple of weeks, music videos have been generating a lot of chatter, mostly for the wrong reasons.
Kanye West's Famous, which features the US rapper in bed with a bunch of wax figures resembling nude celebs, got tons of attention. Taylor Swift's fake naked boobs will do that for you.
Fergie also took the low road with her MV for M.I.L.F.$, in which a sexy milkman gets driven to distraction by the US singer and her famous pals, including Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen.
Clearly, sex is one good way to get a lot of publicity, attract viewers and generate sales.
The thing that surprises me is that Barbadian pop star Rihanna also released a new video, and she DIDN'T use sex to get attention.
Talk about a "man bites dog" story.
Written by Sia, Rihanna's new tune Sledgehammer is being used to promote the upcoming movie Star Trek Beyond, and the video is suitably spacey and epic.
Rihanna stands on an alien planet in a voluminous saffron robe, her face adorned with alien glyphs.
The purple sky is filled with stars and sundry celestial objects.
After doing a weird little dance, she casts a space spell and transforms into a sky goddess.
Then the USS Enterprise shows up, and it's, like, woah.
The song itself is majestic and melancholy, like a Bond theme, and the vid lifts it even higher.
Nowhere near as sly and sophisticated as, say, a Bjork vid, but still neat.
IMAX
It's apparently the first MV shot entirely on IMAX cameras, and it premiered on IMAX screens last week.
It was directed by Canadian-Italian film-maker Floria Sigismondi, who has worked with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry and even the late, great David Bowie.
With Sledgehammer, she's done a wonderful job straddling the line between art and commerce.
The vid is lovely and inspiring in its own right, but it REALLY gets you excited for Star Trek Beyond, which opens here on July 21.
I've always said that doing songs for movies brings out the best in musicians, and Sledgehammer is no exception.
This is my favourite thing Rihanna has ever done, but then again, I'm a sucker for space babes.
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