Gold Digger

I’m not a big fan of what I would call mainstream music (top 40’s, stuff on the radio or MTV). The last mainstream CD that I purchased was probably Life for Rent by Dido (she’s got a great voice). And perhaps my least favorite music genre is mainstream rap/hip-hop. I mean, how many times can you rap about shooting people, bling-bling, dubs, $d(hos), and your homeboys before it just gets tiring?

The scary thing is that when I try to apply any logic to this, it seems like the current fad will never die. I mean, how long have people been writing songs and poetry about love?

Anyways, so as I was flipping through the channels this morning while eating my oatmeal (yeah, I know, I sound like such an old man), I came across the video for Gold Digger by Kanye West (the site keeps talking to me, which is kinda annoying). I must say, the song and the lyrics are very catchy and, while it is still on the topic of bling-bling and hos, it takes a seemingly different angle than what I typically try to tune out. Besides that, who knew that Jamie Foxx could actually sing? Hard to believe but he has this deep, scratchy voice that adds a very nice blues flavor to the mix.

But perhaps what intrigued me more was the video itself. It was a visually stunning video. Stunning in it’s simplicity and the way it brought out the beauty of the female subjects. It was sexual, but I didn’t find it overtly so. Yeah, yeah, some of you will say that it was just a bunch of women scantily clad in lingerie dancing around and posing, but it was very tastefully done, at least in my opinion. Director Hype Williams does a great job of recalling the pinups of decades past with the excellent set and costume designs.

So for those of you who don’t normally listen to rap/hip-hop, this is one video that might be worth checking out (it’s linked off of the front page of Kanye’s site).