Today's Pick

With Future's long-awaited new sophomore album, "Honest," out on April 22nd via Epic Records, his team wastes no time in putting out the video for his new single, "I Won," which features Kanye West. The two hip-hop artists toast to the trophy girls in the iconic hip-hop film visionary Hype Williams directed the slick visuals for the Metro Boomin-produced track, which is a subdued, mostly black-and-white affair featuring the pair strolling along the beach with some bikini-clad babes and send up tributes to their lady loves Ciara and Kim Kardashian, respectively.
The celebratory and sentimental Future/West ollaborative track "I Won," is one of the more ballad-like moments on "Honest," which divided fairly evenly between trap bangers and slow jams. Future takes command in the track's first half, delivering romantic and sexual lines through a massive layer of auto-tune. West, as he tends to do, steals the show with his verse, promising the models that he wants to "dip that ass in gold." Future said of the song in a recent interview: "'I Won' is not a love son. It's just me uplifting women in general. I'm giving women the power to treat themselves as a trophy-to show that and know it in yourself and be confident-because when they do that, whoever they're with is winning. I'm not teaching motherf**kers how to love."
Earlier this month, Future described what the video for "I Won," would look like. "We on the water, on the beach, and it's beautiful women," the the Atlanta crooner told Hot 9's Angie Martinez. "We made [them] look like the old Hype Williams' video girls," Future said. "You know when video girls were stars back then. Video vixens, you really got them from the Hype Williams videos." Yup. That sounds about right.
Filmed primarily in black and white, the visuals for the "Honest" cut flip back and forth between shots of both rappers standing alone on the beach, with close-ups of women rolling around in the sand, addressing their respective significant others. Future is once again rocking his newly-blonde locks. Future is once again rocking his newly-blonde locks, wearing an all-white ensemble as West goes for the T-shirt look, and some swimsuit models. However, Ciara and Kardashian-who are both the obvious "trophies" that the song rapping extensively about are nowhere to be found in the video, however, two scantily models fill their places, posing on the sand.

As promised, Kanye West appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Tuesday, where he shared the provocative clip for his Charlie Wilson-featuring "Yeezus" closer "Bound 2." As previously hinted, the video does indeed feature the 36-year-old rapper's betrothed Kim Kardashian, topless on a motorcycle with West as they ride across what looks like stock video footage of American landscapes. This one was also directed by fashion photographer Nick Knight. It's a lot to process.

The song, built around a sample of "Bound," a 1971 Soul tune by Ponderosa Twins Plus One, is the tenth and final track from his sixth studio album "Yeezus," released this summer. The Post's Chris Richards wrote that on the album, West "plumbs the depths of his id like a knife scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar." The soul-powered tune finds West opening up to a significant other. It also features smooth R&B soul singer-songwriter-producer and former lead singer of The Gap Band, Uncle Charlie Wilson crooning on the hook.

The self-proclaimed creative genius takes the scenic route as he rides through Arizona's Grand Canyon on a motorcycle with the future bride-to-be Mrs. West by his side. With the wind whipping through her blonde hair, a naked Kardashian sits in front of her man and they make out with the majestic mountains in the backdrop.  They appear to visit several of the country's most iconic natural places, a road trip that would have taken several days had it truly occurred. West, however, does not change his clothes, and Kardashian never gets dressed.

This isn't the first time Kardashian has shown off her body in one of fiancée West's videos, but we've never seen her quite like this before. As a topless reality star straddles her future husband on his motorcycle, his arm and the shadows keep her breasts hidden for the most part. But the one thing that stays constant in the video is the oh-so-sensual Kardashian, flaunting her unbelievable post-baby body the whole time. The imagery is very colorful and light. Nothing about it feels pop or urban. She looks incredible. There's no doubt about it, West is definitely celebrating his and her love and monogamy in the steamy video, and i's a confident display of love and passion with little to no narrative.

Jay-Z and Kanye West released the video late Wednesday night for "No Church in the Wild," an Illuminati-referencing highlight from the record, depicts a grim clash between a large number of protesters and heavily armed and violent riot police. The track is the third from their 2011 super-collaboration "Watch the Throne." However, it doesn't involve an appearance from either rapper, or even guest crooner Frank Ocean, but deliver a powerful clip all the same with the powerful message they were trying to send.
"No Church in the Wild" is a hip-hop song with R&B vocals in its chorus and bridge. It features a bass-heavy beat with guitar riffs, synthesizers, and drums. The song begins with Ocean's chorus followed by a Jay-Z verse about various topics including philosophy, religion, and braggadocio. The chorus then repeats and The-Dream performs a bridge, preceding West's verse, which includes themes of hedonism, celebrity, and religion. An instrumental which reoccurs through "Watch the Throne" plays, ending the song.
Features a cinematic production style, the Romain Gavras-directed clip centers on a battle taking place in the streets of Prague. The dark violent war starts when a masked citizen throws a blazing Molotov cocktail towards the lined-up officials in riot gear and a fight ensues. A sea of men then rush towards the police, caring little about their own unprotected faces and raging into war. By the end of the five-minute video, the freedom fighters seem to have notched a victory of some sort, standing in triumph in the face of their oppressors.
Set to the buzzing drums of the 88-Keys and Yeezy-produced track, ill-equipped freedom fighters with nothing to lose wage war against an oppressive regime. Of course, there is nothing in the video that directly details a specific storyline or plot: Instead, viewers are expected to rely on their own interpretations of the scenes that look taken straight from CNN. Fearless protestors hurl stones and fight armed officers using only their bare fists. "Power concedes nothing without a demand." If a quote could sum up the Throne's "No Church in the Wild" clip, Frederick Douglass' famed call for revolution might do it best.

After a rush of new material from Kanye West in April, the Chicago rapper is turning to the archives his latest video for "Lost in the World," the first part of the finale to his critically acclaimed 2010 solo effort, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." Collaborated with filmmaker Ruth Hogben, the black-and-white visual reliant on simple, but effective, imagery. In typical Yeezy fashion, the video breaks the mould of popular rap aesthetics while still celebrating the extraordinary talent that has made West a modern icon and captures the pulsing energy of the Bon Iver-assisted track.
"Lost in the World" about love gone wrong features tribal drums and samples Bon Iver's "Woods," a song originally written about alienation, applied by West "as the centerpiece of a catchy, communal reverie" on the album. It features several musical changes, beginning with indie-folk singer Justin Vernon of Bon Iver frontman's faint vocals, followed by 4/4 drums, gospel-styled chorus, and increased tempo, and a final measured tempo.
The song also samples the vocals from the soul musician and jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron's "Comment No.1," a blunt, surrealist piece in spoken word about the African-American experience and the fated idealism of the American dream. West explained to MTV News: "That was the last song on the album and emotionally it just fit the crescendo of everything that I was saying and what I wanted to say to this girl. And it's also my favorite eight bars that I've ever written in my life. I think it's one of the greatest pieces of writing."
The dark clip plays up the desperation of the "Lost in the World," with cloud-filled images and a group of models dressed in sheer fabric expressing their pain through dance. West himself appears on a mirrored platform, which reflects the dark sky above, and as the video progresses, the looming structures overhead begin to part, revealing an ominous city skyline. It's simple but beautiful imagery that turns dark and intense as West turns on the bright lights in the form of jarring strobes as the video swerves into abstract urban scenes.

Jay-Z and Kanye West performing together again for their mind-blowing show in a newly-released video for their hit “Niggas In Paris,” the third track from their collaboration album "Watch The Throne," in which everything the superstar duo rap about is what they actually go through. Followed the release of "Otis" last year, this part live clip, part kaleidoscopic freakout, the "Paris" video more than matches the song's massive impact.
West steals the show on the Hit-Boy produced club anthem, which incorporates staccato orchestration, fizzing industrial noise, a sampling of dialogue from the Will Ferrell/Jon Heder ice-skating comedy film "Blades of Glory." The dynamic rap duo breathed new life into their inescapable hit, and their lyrics frame their rags to riches story on the song. In an interview, West revealed that the song was inspired by his travels in Paris. Both rappers come in hard over a slow, menacing beat and icy synthesizer notes.
The dark, apocalyptic clip, directed by West himself, is taken from a run of live shows at Los Angeles' Staples Center with shots of the pair performing mixed with crowd footage, giving fans who couldn't score tickets to the sold-out 'Watch the Throne Tour' the chance to experience what it was like - if they had been on psychedelic drugs at the time. Appropriately, the video opens with a warning that its special effects could lead to epileptic seizures. The two rap icons merge and are pulled apart in a kaleidoscope of quick cuts.
Given the size and scope of both the song and the artists performing it, the "Paris" video, spliced with some dynamic imagery and even a slightly reworked beat, is also largely compromised and loaded with lasers, prowling panthers, pop-up-book cityscapes and the aforementioned models. Shoot, even producer Hit-Boy makes a one-second cameo. It's a head-spinning, pulse-quickening mixture of imagery and movement, of sight and sound - an experience unlike any other live clip. If you caught the Throne tour, the "Paris" video is sure to inspire heady flashbacks.

Without further ado, Kanye West and Jay-Z share their brand new video for "Otis," the first official leak off the duo's joint highly-anticipated project "Watch the Throne" is now available on iTunes. The mid-tempo hip-hop song pays tribute to the soulful legend utilizing cuts from Otis Redding's classic 1966 tune, "Try a Little Tenderness." The soulful tune, which features the dynamic hip-hop duo spitting 'luxury raps,' is officially the hottest rap song of the summer.
Both rappers trade off verses and never pause for a chorus. The iconic duo are probably the only two who could afford to clear the sample and this is just the kind of track needed to really crank up the anticipation for their collaborative LP. The track begins with the sample of classic tune as we hear the late soul crooner wail, "It makes it easier to bare, you won't regret it." Then comes in the tickling piano, a flourishing bass line and a thunderous beat produced by West. The back-and-forth banter between the rap kings is endearing, and they offer plenty of fantastic one-liners too. Overall, "Otis" is a triumphant song that will garner repeat listens just for the one-liners alone.
The Spike-Jonze directed video, which just debuted on MTV, is an on-screen bromance, complete with a souped-up Maybach, fireworks, and a guest appearance by Aziz Ansari. It eschews the narrative spazzouts and stoner-boggling tricks of previous Jonze video, preferring instead to luxuriate in the icon status of its two principals. We get fireworks, fist bumps, a fast car, and general larger-than-life camaraderie rather than, say, guys on fire running in slow-motion. It's like "The Expendables," if that movie only starred two guys, and both of them were rappers who didn't do any onscreen fighting.
The video begins in crisp colors with the duo torching a Maybach in a large, empty warehouse yard. They tear that car apart and create some sort of makeshift convertible, which they then drive around the lot aimlessly in circles, with four young girls riding high in the back. The video has a real light, soft quality to it. West and Jay-Z amble around almost in slow-motion, talking down to the camera all giddy-like. It climaxes with the duo laughing maniacally as sparks shoot up all around them. It makes you think, as Jonze always does, this is what a music video should be.

Katy Perry dropped her new futuristic video yesterday for her remixed version of the single, "E.T." featuring rapper Kanye West. The song taking viewers into a brand new dimension, is the fourth off of her Grammy-nominated third studio album, "Teenage Dream." We've seen Perry camp it up in "California Gurls" and go glam in "Thinking of You" and "Teenage Dream," but we've never seen her get extraterrestrial until now. Her post-apocalyptic "E.T." clip is a big-budget spectacle that takes Perry to the next level. It certainly ranks among her very best and is unquestionably the biggest thing she's ever done.
The song has a science-fiction theme, and Perry admitted that outer space fascinates her. "E.T. is a metaphor about finding someone who is just obviously not from this world because how could they love me like this? Even though it's a metaphor, I'm very interested in all things futuristic. I mean, I complain every day that the Hoverport has still not been invented!" she said. "I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I look out into the sky and to the stars and I feel there is so much out there."
The spacey, robotic jam over a "stomp-stomp-clap" beat similar to Queen's "We Will Rock You" (1977), "E.T." is an celestial electronic pop and hip hop ballad with elements of teen pop, that tells of "falling in love with a foreigner." Extraterrestrial metaphors are used throughout, and West continues these metaphors in his two verses, making heavy use of Auto-Tune at times. It has been noted for bringing out a different side of Perry, with a darker, deeper, and more mature tone.
The colorful and surreal video was directed by Canadian Floria Sigismondi, known for her "dark, feminine" videos for artists including Christina Aguilera and Marilyn Manson. The video is definitely out of this world with Perry and West falling from outer space down to earth as they deliver their verses. In it, Perry, as a titular alien, drifts through outer space before landing on an abandoned planet covered with litter. "E.T." is a huge-looking, quick-moving blockbuster of a clip, overflowing with eye-catching special effects, opulent costumes and artfully applied makeup, the kind of production where a plot is basically an afterthought. In other words, it's a Hollywood-level spectacle, a summer smash that just so happened to come out in the early days of spring. It's an event.

Kanye West's highly anticipated debut film, "Runaway," finally arrived and proved to be the 'ambitious' effort that fans who previewed the short have been raving about for weeks. "Runaway" is the third single from Chicago rappe's upcoming fifth studio album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." The film features Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks as the main character and Nicki Minaj as the film’s narrator. The 35-minute film features West expressing himself in a new way that is much more grandiose than anything he has attempted before.
West debuted the song on September 12, and performed "Runaway" featuring rapper Pusha T of Clipse, at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. He said the song was about having remorse for being a fool then rapped about toasting those who are douche-bags, scumbags and jerk-offs. Afterwards the Chicago MC dedicated his performance to his late mother. Shortly after the performance, West revealed he was working on a 35-minute short film based around the song. "Runaway" might be loaded with deeper meaning but essentially it's just another way of getting people talking about "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," his guest-heavy fifth LP.
The 35-minute abstract musical short is inspired by other music-related short films such as Purple Rain, Pink Floyd The Wall and Michael Jackson's Thriller and painters Picasso and Matisse. It was filmed in Prague over the period of four days during the summer. The script, a carefully modulated art-film made by a man on a mission, was written by West, Vanessa Beecroft and Jonathan Lia. West describes the video as an "overall representation of what [he dreams]" and a parallel to his music career. Speaking to MTV News, West said he wanted women in his life, including his mother and ex-girlfriends, represented in the video, and for them to "connect with the different emotions". According to Ebanks, who co-stars in the video, the moral of the video is, "the world doesn't accept, or they try to change, what is different, instead of trying to understand it." The film was inspired by directors Federico Fellini and Stanley Kubrick as well as fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.
The film is implementation of the nine West songs, which are totally making us crave his album even more. The promo is based on the life of the mythical phoenix, which West admits relates to his own career. He told New York Magazine: "It's the story of a phoenix fallen to Earth and I make her my girlfriend. And people discriminate against her and eventually she has to burn herself alive and go back to her world. I've been feeling the idea of the phoenix. It's been in my heart for a while." West added, referring to the controversial incident when he stage-crushed Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at last year's VMAs: "It's maybe parallel to my career. I threw a Molotov cocktail on my career last year, in a way, and I had to come back as a better person."