Joe Jonas - "Just In Love"

This weeks TOP favorited spot on Youtube was claimed by former brother boy band member Joe Jonas and the music video for his new single “Just in Love.”

Joseph Adam "Joe" Jonas announced that he would be releasing a solo album, Fast Life, in May of 2010. However, you may recognize Joe as the fellow brother and front man for the band The Jonas Brothers. The 22 year old launched his carrier sharing the stage with Kevin and Nick in 2006, but has recently found a foothold in the door to fame on his own.

The song “Just in Love” is the second single off of the new album. The initial tune kicks the video off nicely, but from there, it’s like a descent back down to the Dark Ages of 90’s Boy Bands (complete with an electro beat, synths, and whiney vocals). Jonas explained his attempted strategy to Details magazine, saying, "Those fans that say have moved on, gotten a little bit older and were introduced to new artists, I feel like I want to be able to catch their ears again." However, this song appears to be more of a throwback than an ear-catching single.

The music video itself starts out with a French woman’s voice following Joe down a dark street. “We talk love, and they say it sounds crazy. I don’t understand. Why do you want to change it? Do you hear what I say?” (A snippet of material from the song itself). Events jump backward and we’re shown a retro-style, home video of Joe and a French woman’s tryst throughout Paris. The pair travel the city—sampling coffee shops, slow dancing in clubs, boating down the river, and touring the city hand-in-hand—all while Jonas croons the chorus “Girl, I’m just in love with you…”

Filling the gaps between scenes is a soulful Joe singing along on a balcony (smoldering stares, pained expressions, and all). After what appears to be a number of weeks together, the two part ways. Joe leaves the woman’s apartment with his suitcases in hand and walks down the dark street we saw in the opening. And so ends another budding romance.

LINKS:

Check out other articles and blogs about the video--

MTV News: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1670612/joe-jonas-just-in-love-music-video.jhtml

AOL Music Blog: http://blog.music.aol.com/2011/09/13/joe-jonas-just-in-love-video/

Jennifer Lopez -- Papi

Jennifer Lopez debuted her singing career in 1999 with her first studio album, On the 6. Since, J-Lo has had an immensely successful career as a singer, actress, record producer, dancer, television personality, fashion designer, and television producer. After a brief hiatus, she recently revived her singing career with the track "On the Floor" featuring Pitbull, which achieved worldwide success and peaked as No. 3 on the music charts.

 

The single “Papi” is the third cut from the star's seventh studio album Love? and is the highlight of the record. The track combines the flavor of electro music with a bit of Latin spice, topped with what Rick Florino from Artistdirect.com called a "majestic hook." The heavy drum beat and synthed vocals make for a club-ready song. 

  

The video starts with Jenny pining over her absent man while at the mail counter. The attendant offers her a magical love cookie meant to bring her “love back,” and the next day Lopez starts a man frenzy. As she struts unsuspectingly down the city streets, men go cuckoo-bananas over the singer-- tossing themselves out of windows, scaling down walls, diving off of buldings, and literally throwing themeselves at Jennifer in attempts to win her affection.  Soon J-Lo is trailing a flock of vying suitors who have become obsessed. It isn’t until a fellow has launched himself at Jennifer’s car that she realizes the mob of love-struck males in her rearview mirror. A failed get-away leads to an inevitable dance sequence and Jenny is soon being flung around in aerial stunts. In the nick of time, Jennifer’s man, “Papi,” sweeps in and rescues her from the clutches of the overzealous male public. Proving that magical love cookies really do work.

Overall, this video is humorous and fun, if not oh-so-original.

LINKS:

Check out other blogs about the music video—

 

MTV Blogs: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1670990/jennifer-lopez-papi-music-video.jhtml

 

Entertainment Weekly's "Music Mix": http://music-mix.ew.com/2011/09/19/jennifer-lopez-papi-video-fiat-commercial/

Avril Lavigne -- "Wish You Were Here"

Pop-rocker Avril Lavigne strikes another hit with fans with “Wish You Were Here,” displaying her vulnerability in the new music video.

Hailing from Ontario, Canada, the extremely successful singer/songwriter has been associated with the music business since her mid-teens and debuted her first album when she was 17 years old. By 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide. Since then, the now-26-year-old Avril has become one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S—a  has now released her fourth studio album Goodbye Lullaby, the third single off of which is the edgy ballad “Wish You Were Here.”

The video opens with the pop-punk princess lying on the floor of what looks to be an abandoned apartment in a black slip. A few pained lyrics, a quick bit of guitar strumming, and a torched daisy later, Lavigne breaks into the chorus, spouting “damn, damn, damn/ What I’d do to have you here, here, here/ I wish you were here…”

The video continues in this manner as the singer spirals into a mini-breakdown. Looking pleadingly into the camera as the lyrics progress, Avril weeps over her lost man. “Tears are real... no onions!!" tweeted the singer last week. A bathtub mysteriously enters the scene and Lavigne takes a quick dip before strolling morosely around the room and closing the song with a grieved “…I wish you were here.”

Overall the video style for “Wish You Were Here” is simple, with mostly framed-in close-ups of Miss Avril as she performs breathy, yet sincere vocals about a relationship’s untimely end. The video received a lot of attention from fans when it hit the Net last week and mixed reviews from critics. Jody Rosen in Rolling Stone’s magazine called the song a "jangling power ballad” while Mikael Wood from Spin described the video as "former brat-punk princess in dreary woe-is-me mode."

"It's simple but emotional,” said the artist herself. “Raw and real. Stripped down." Fans flocked to see this softer side of the hard, punk-rocker. The music video gained over 10 million views within the first five days of it’s release on the singer’s VEVO channel and became the most watched as well as TOP favorited music video on YouTube last week.

LINKS:

Check out other blogs about the music video—

MTV Buzzworthy Blogs: http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2011/09/09/avril-lavigne-wish-you-were-here-video/

AOL Music Blog (By Marina Galperina): http://blog.music.aol.com/2011/09/09/avril-lavigne-wish-you-were-here-video/

Boyce Avenue and Tiffany Alvord -- "She Will Be Loved"

     Front man Alejandro Manzano from Boyce Avenue pairs up with Youtube sensation Tiffany Alvord for this weeks TOP favorited video. After touring together in February this year, the two artists join forces to cover Maroon 5’s hit song "She Will Be Loved."

     Alejandro Mazano is one of the three brothers that make up the band Boyce Avenue, an American acoustic rock band known for their distinct cover songs. The trio has covered a range of artists, spanning from Michael Jackson and Kings of Leon to Katy Perry. Since joining the site in late 2007, the brothers are currently the second most searched for band on Youtube (close behind Linkin Park) with a grand total of over 300 million views. The boys have racked up almost eight hundred thousand subscribers in this short amount of time and recently started their own independent record label, 3 Peace Records.

     Sharing a similar story but in a much sweeter package, Tiffany Alvord launched onto the seen in early 2008 with her lighthearted covers as well as her own original music. This singer/songwriter has, in her short time on Youtube, gathered over 500,000 subscribers. Her acoustic/pop style is inspired by artists such as “Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Michael Buble,” says the teen.

     The video is both simple and polished. Intimate lighting, tight close-ups, and some breezy guitar make up the majority of the laidback music video. While the individual performance segments come across as a bit stale, Manzano’s soulful voice and Alvord’s sugary vocals go hand in hand when it reaches the chorus. Fans of the original version of “She Will Be Loved” will not be disappointed.

**Links:
Check out both artist's on their Youtube channels--

Boyce Avenue : http://www.youtube.com/profile?annotation_id=annotation_535896&user=boyceavenue&src_vid=ysdVYA014XA&feature=iv

Tiffany Alvord :  http://www.youtube.com/user/TiffanyAlvord?feature=chclk

Lil' Wayne -- "How to Love"

   

    Lil’ Wayne, the hardcore rapper and New Orleans native, surprises fans with his unusual love ballad, “How to Love,” and it’s penetrating storyline. Wayne (nicknamed “Weezy”), the self-titled “best rapper alive” and perpetual celebrity, has skyrocketed into fame since the start of his hip-hop career at age 15. Nine albums and countless collaborations later, this rap superstar finds himself revealing his thus-far-unexplored softer side in this new music video.

       The soulful 3^rd single off his newest album, “Tha Carter IV,” was released on May 26^th and has since risen to the near top of the iTunes chart. The song is a mixture of soft guitar strumming and a glitching beat, overlaid with Wayne’s simple, yet catchy lyrics.

“When I listen to it I get goose bumps," Young Weezy said in an interview with MTV News. "And I feel like the song is gonna take me somewhere that I've never been musically."

       The video itself was released on August 24^th and claimed the TOP favorited spot on Youtube this week after recently being performed at this year’s VMA’s. Lil’ Wayne is shown in a darkened hallway as he croons the heart-breaking tale of a girl who’s been used and abused. The premise of the video is a young woman’s ventures in the pursuit of love, which slowly journeys down the road of low self worth, bad relationships, and eventually prostitution. Lest viewers spiral into a minor depression over this tragic storyline, events suddenly backtrack and the girl’s future is re-written into a much cheerier ending. The video closes with a sentimental “Thank you for being there and teaching me how to love,” tagged at the close. While these video sequences aren’t exactly Oscar-worthy performances, the message and softer side of Weezy’s single certainly seems to have gained the appreciation of his fans. Don’t be fooled, this abrasive, hip-hop icon may turn out to be a closet teddy bear after all. 

                                                          

Links to related blog entries and other sources:

-         http://popcrush.com/lil-wayne-how-to-love/

-         http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1669637/lil-wanye-how-to-love-director.jhtml

-         http://popdust.com/2011/05/26/lil-wayne-how-to-love-review-leak-new/