Videos of the Week November 10th

Plenty of ComplexCon related videos to dive into for this week's top five. Without a doubt the most interesting video of the past week was the Kobe Bryant and Kendrick Lamar co-interview. It's not everyday you get two superstars from two different types of entertainment in the same room reflecting on how they each rose to greatness. Speaking of greatness, it's refreshing to see N.E.R.D. back onstage pumping out new music. I don't need to sell you on Pharrell's stage presence, but how about that ensemble of dancers on stage? Let's just say whoever decides to see them in concert will be getting the price of admission.

In case you haven't gotten your weekly mix of Dillon Francis, here's your shot at seeing him candidly answer questions submitted from Twitter. There's a reason why he's been given reality shows, even the most simple question can elicit the most interesting responses. This interview did not disappoint and there are plenty of stories to latch onto during the interview hosted by Wired. In case you're itching for an actual music video, ZHU's new Exhale/Stardust video is a characteristically weird watch. Truth be told he's a weird, artistic dude and that shows through in his cinematography too. Rounding out this week's top five is deadmau5's entertaining Aftermovie for his Red Rocks show. In case you weren't in attendance at the show, he debuted a couple tracks and can now preview them via the video. There simply isn't a better venue to take in music and that after movie further cemented that...#RedRocksCO

Kendrick Lamar & Kobe Bryant Talk About Their Evolution to Greatness at ComplexCon 2017

N.E.R.D Perform at ComplexCon

Dillon Francis Answers Twitter Questions From Wired

ZHU - Exhale/Stardust (Video)

deadmau5 Red Rocks After Movie

Photo Credit: YouTube

"Say Hello There, It's Been So Long"

Well I'll be damned. Dillon Francis finally got on board with the island vibes of Tropical House. His new one, Hello There, features sing-songy vocals from Yung Pinch and feels like something you'd hear at an outdoor club on (fill in the blank) island. It's half summery, half-tropical, but make no mistake, it's as chill as it gets from Dillon Francis.

Song aside, I almost lost it after pressing play on the lyric video below. I've been a vocal advocate of artists ditching the high-budget "typical" music videos for more budget-friendly, creative lyric videos. And it doesn't get any more low budget than a dude lip syncing the vocals while being super-imposed within the cover art of the track. It's even more funny that the cover art features what looks like a dude posing for an online dating site profile picture, enjoying a pineapple slice by the pool. Whether or not it's a serious expansion of Dillon's musical style remains to be scene, but color me entertained by all of the above...#HelloThere


Dillon Francis feat Yung Pinch - Hello There

Dillon Francis and Halsey Are Bad At Love

Rarely is a song ever so remix-worthy that it deserves it's own EP. Given the success of Halsey's latest album, it's no surprise Bad At Love was deemed worthy of five different remixes. From Autograf to Hook N Sling to Dillon Francis, there were a lot of big names in the mix.

Out of the pool of five, my favorite of the bunch was (unsurprisingly) Dillon's mix. The steady, back and forth knock on the beat and tribal undertones gives the track an added level of intrigue that Halsey's stellar vocals couldn't alone accomplish. It's hard to pull off, but Dillon's mix of rhythmic and chill hits a sweet spot for me. I've been listening to this one non-stop the past two days, so feel free and follow me on over to Spotify or iTunes if you're as big of a fan...#BadAtLove



Halsey - Bad At Love (Dillon Francis Remix)

Videos of the Week September 15th

Plenty to latch onto in this week's buffet of top videos. There's plenty of humor, stellar videography, and even a noteworthy duet. Let by the satire of South Park who had their Jim Bob character channel both Kendrick Lamar and Amazon's Alexa simultaneously, the week got off to a quick start. Let's just say hearing a country rendition of Humble was more than a little funny. While we're at it, might at well keep the laughter going with Dillon Francis's cameo on First We Feast's Hot Ones. If you were wondering whether the wings they eat on the show were really hot, your question was answered this week.

Switching to a different vibe, Avicii came through with a trailer to his new upcoming documentary, True Stories. In the doc, you can expect to learn about a lot of the struggles that led to Avicii momentarily retiring. It's going to be an interesting look into the trade offs between health, friendships, and stardom. Speaking of stardom, Jas Davis is at the forefront of visual expression. Being Skrillex's right hand man sure has it's perks. For one, when it's your birthday Skrillex throws you a bone by sending you an unreleased beat to use for your new video. And last, but not least we got a sliver of the late Amy Winehouse. Both Dua Lipa and Gallant did everything in their power to do justice to her classic Tears Dry on Their Own. Basically anytime Gallant is being recorded live, count me in. Dude is hands down on of the best vocalists on the planet right now...#TearsDryOnTheirOwn

JimBob Cover's Kendrick Lamar's Humble on South Park

Dillon Francis Drops by First We Feast's Hot Ones to Eat Some Wings

Avicii True Stories Album Trailer

Jas Davis - Friendly Fire (prod by Skrillex) (Video)

Dua Lipa and Gallant Cover Amy Winehouse's Tears Dry On Their Own

Photo Credit: Comedy Central

"I Just Wanna Love You in Real Life"

Remember that time Dillon Francis got tired of the haters and quit social media for the rest of the year? Well that happened last week as he released a brand spankin' new remix of a current dance favorite. Duke Dumont and Gorgon City's Real Life was a stellar collabo when it first dropped back in early June. For quick reference check out the video for the original below...



It's exactly as funky as you'd expect from two of dance music's best. Now picture Dillon's speaker reverberating, Moombahton rhythms applied to the original. That's what you can expect from the remix below. It has a lot of the same qualities of the original...until you get to the drop when all bets are off. It's a fun offshoot of the original, maintaining the strong vocals from Naations while adding plenty of bass and flare to make it club worthy. Give it a spin on Spotify if you feel so inclined...#RealLife

Duke Dumont & Gorgon City - Real Life (Dillon Francis Remix)

Videos of the Week July 14th

For whatever reason, this week was dominated by huge music video releases. It seems more like the exception than the norm for a week's top five to be so heavily skewed toward music videos, but such was the case this week. Led by the action packed visuals from Dillon Francis and G-Eazy's Say Less video, there was plenty of bottle smashing fun littered throughout. Then, Macklemore did a complete 180 on his video for Glorious where he took his grandma around town to celebrate her 100th birthday. In hindsight, the vibe of the track fits perfectly for the celebration of life, so kudos to Macklemore for sharing the moment with all of us.

Then things got a little trippy on Travis Scott's Butterfly Effect video. Don't care what the critics say, that track goes hard and I have a really hard time skipping past it when it plays. In case that first dose of Travis Scott wasn't enough, he made an appearance in the dance heavy video for Know No Better. I'm not exactly sure what story is trying to be told other than kids that are picked on can still get girls too through their dance moves? Last, but most expensive was literally everything about deadmau5's new studio. Such a cool behind the scenes look of all the bells, whistles, nobs, and keys the make up his arsenal of music making equipment. Not sure about y'all, but I was impressed by the amount of analog based sound machines and old keyboards he had. If you had an inkling that he cares about his craft, your perception should remain unchanged...#deadmau5Studio

Dillon Francis feat G-Eazy - Say Less (Video)

Macklemore feat Skylar Grey - Glorious (Video)

Travis Scott - Butterfly Effect (Video)

Major Lazer feat Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, & Quavo - Know No Better (Video)

A Behind the Scenes Look at deadmau5's Studio

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week May 12th

When all is said and done, this past week will be known for having a bit more culture than a usual VOTW top five. Starting with the odd, but awesome pairing of Logic with Neil deGrasse Tyson, there was some nice discussion depth surrounding the lack of concept albums in Hip Hop. It was cool watching both of them share mutual respect and genuinely want to support each other in a positive way.

In the world of music, there were two noteworthy, power collaborations that rose to the top. Linkin Park's new video for Good Goodbye featured some electric (literally) dunks and then there was a whole lot of Nicki Minaj gyrating around in not a lot of clothes in the Light My Body Up video. Yes, it's getting cliche to see it, but she's a beautiful woman, I'll leave it at that. If silly is what you want you'll appreciate the new DJ Hanzel chapter. For this most recent episode he gave some DJ lessons and hilarity ensued. Rounding out this week's top five was Tinashe who hooked up with Complex to prove that sneakers are not just for guys. In the words of John Oliver...#Feminism

Logic & Neil deGrasse Tyson on Their Collaboration

Linkin Park feat Pusha T & Stormzy - Good Goodbye (Video)

David Guetta ft Nicki Minaj & Lil Wayne - Light My Body Up (Video)

DJ Class With DJ Hanzel

Tinashe Goes Sneaker Shopping with Complex

Photo Credit: YouTube

"Please Say Less, I'm Blessed on Blessed"

If we're talking collaborations we'd hope come to fruition, a Dillon Francis and G-Eazy track would be near the top. Say Less continues the trend of Young Gerald seeking out collaborations far and wide, teaming up with the like of Britney, Bebe Rexha, and Wale recently. G-Eazy proliferation aside, let's not cast aside the heat that DJ Hanzel Dillon Francis brought on the instrumental. He brought those arena filling horns, coming in hard and haunting on the hook. It's a textbook lesson on how to use pace to lure in the audience before slapping them in the face with a tough drop and finishing with screwed vocals in case you weren't already entertained. If you're a fan like me, check out the lyric video below and Spotify if you want to do a few more laps around it...#SayLess



Dillon Francis feat G-Eazy - Say Less

Videos of the Week March 24th

Couple interesting story lines baked into this week's top five. The first being the ultra sexy, Willy Wonka colored video for Jason Derulo's Swalla. Needless to say, the lyrical innuendo on the track manifested itself as well as you could have hoped in the video. Next, let me introduce you to DJ Hanzel, the German alter ego of Dillon Francis. As entertaining as he is, you could imagine why TBS sought him out for his own One Deeper Talks series. There are now seven short episodes in the series and two of them made this week's top five. If you're a fan of tongue in cheek humor and EDM, these will be right up your alley.

Just in case you forgot there was still social turmoil across the US, Run the Jewels took the liberties to bring that to the forefront like only they know how. Let's just say there's a police lineup and all signs point toward it being a setup. And last, but not least, I'm ending this week's top five on a heartfelt note with Sampha's Tiny Desk performance. The dude can flat out sign and all he needs is a crowd and his piano to put on a show. Tip of the cap Sampha, you rocked that tiny desk and had us all on pins and needles...#TinyDesk

Jason Derulo feat Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign - Swalla (Video)

DJ Hanzel (Dillon Francis) Interviews Calvin Harris on One Deeper Talks

DJ Hanzel (Dillon Francis) Interviews Flosstradamus on One Deeper Talks

Run the Jewels - Legend Has It (Video)

Sampha Performs an NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Photo Credit - YouTube

Videos of the Week December 9th

This week's top five skewed toward music videos, but there were a few interesting debuts that deserved some love. This week started off on a high note with Jimmy Fallon debuting the new Nintendo Switch on his Tonight Show. Imagine how nerve wracking that must have been to play the game on live tv in front of the game's creator? After the type of pressure, it was fun to turn a page with Party Favor and Dillon Francis's revenge of the nerds montage with their Shut it Down video. If you take away one lesson, it's to not mess with nerds, they'll always find a way to get back.

Then came one of the most exciting trailers I've watched in a long time. The original Guardians of the Galaxy far exceeded my expectations, so seeing Baby Groot teeter on the atomic bomb launch button while being yelled at by Rocket did nothing but pour even more excitement for Vol 2. Then came the weird music videos, led by Childish Gambino's trippy VR video for Me and Your Mama. I'm still trying to wrap my head around whether or not attending the Pharos concert at Joshua Tree would have been a good move. Either way, I'm stoked that he's back to releasing new music. And finally, ending the week on an animation high note, Borgore and Juicy J released some equally trippy visuals for Magic Trick. It's hard to visually match the craziness of the beat for the song, but somehow they pulled it off in a kaleidoscope of color and craziness...#MagicTrick
Jimmy Fallon Debuts the Nintendo Switch

Party Favor and Dillon Francis - Shut it Down (Video)

Guardians of the Galaxy Teaser Trailer

Childish Gambino - Me and Your Mama (Pharos VR Video)

Borgore feat Juicy J - Magic Trick (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

A Breathtaking Collabo Between Alesso and Dillon Francis

Finally, the long awaited collaboration between Alesso and Dillon Francis has arrived in its full glory. And what a beautiful love child it ended up being, mixing the styles of two of the most prominent EDM acts. Take My Breath Away will reel you in with a ballad-esque vocal build up, only to give way to an easy-listening, Top 40 drop. I say Top 40 drop because it's much more soothing than edgy and let's be honest, that plays best to the masses. I dig the extra bounce when the tempo begins to pick up too, it's a much needed element to differentiate the track from what you'd usually hear from each of the individual acts. If you've been waiting for this as long as everyone else has, here are the obligatory iTunes and Spotify links for your listening pleasure...#TakeMyBreathAway

Alesso - Take My Breath Away (Co-produced by Dillon Francis)

Videos of the Week October 21st

In what can only be described as a rare week, this week's top five was dominated by music videos. With all the politics and subsequent late night comedy, you'd think that there would be more opportunity to blast the candidates. Yet, we're all probably so tone def to the madness that the numbness paved the way for music videos to step into the spotlight this week.

Even though all five are music videos, only two of the five I'd characterize as traditional music videos. Led by Pharrell's favorite up and comer Maggie Rogers debut single and Dillon Francis/Will Heard's strange new video for Anywhere, there was plenty of personality in the mix. That's when it all started drifting off the usual path. Porter Robinson and Madeon put together an Anime video for Shelter, which isn't really my thing, but you mind find it interesting. Then they was ZHU's eleven minute short film themed off his latest Generation Why? album. It truly does profile as more of a movie than a music video that made for more of an interesting watch. And then Chance the Rapper came through with the most unique video of the week. Shot completely on an iPhone, he and his cousin Nicole came through with a really solid video for How Great. My guess is many more people will follow suit on his homemade approach, but I really doubt they'll be able to match the energy that he and Jay Electronica brought to the shoot...#HowGreat
Maggie Rogers - Alaska (Video)

Dillon Francis feat Will Heard - Anywhere (Video)

Porter Robinson & Madeon - Shelter (Anime Video)

ZHU - Generation Why (Short Film)

Chance the Rapper feat Jay Electronica, and Francis & The Lights - How Great (Video)

#HowGreat Official Video featuring my cousin Nicole. Shot on iPhone. Lock yo screen pic.twitter.com/KqDy5hqv68

— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) October 20, 2016

Photo Credit: YouTube

"You're Like a Part of Me, That Only I Can See"

Man, is it me or did it start raining top notch EDM single near the end of the week? During that rainstorm of synths, you may have gotten wet by a fresh new one from Dillon Francis and Will Heard. Anywhere is about a poppy as you're going to hear from Dillon and that's in large part due to Will's stellar vocals. Gently funky and melodic is the best I can come up with when describing the track as I listen to it right now. The mix of bubbly rhythms and repeatable vocals are why you'll be humming along to yourself long after the track ends. Do yourself a favor and add this guy to whatever new Spotify playlist you're rocking of late as you look forward to reaping the benefits over the next few weeks...#Anywhere
Dillon Francis feat Will Heard - Anywhere

"Turn Me On, Getting Closer Now, When You Call My Name"

First off, I hope everyone had solid 4th of July. Wherever you were, I hope your weather was warmer than it was in the frigid Bay Area. Whoever said the coldest summers exist in the Bay was not even close to joking.

Anyways, how about some Indie pop turned boomy EDM? If you're like me, you haven't heard of Phantoms before. After hearing their new single, Call My Name with Skylar Austin, I'm glad to have found them. They give off a lot of easy-going, carefree vibes with their music, which I dig. Before I get into the remix, give the funky original a listen...

I know, pretty digable, right? Well, then Dillon Francis took it upon himself to go all boom, clang, pop on the original for a slightly faster, more hype dance floor quality version. It has that ever so enticing gradual drop that teases you all the way to the bottom. My favorite part is the speedy tempo change around the 1:30 mark that makes it seem like the vocals are being sung while running. Cool effect and overall a pretty dope remix, all things considered...#CallMyName

Phantoms feat Skylar Austin - Call My Name (Dillon Francis Remix)

"Unwrap That Candy, Baby She Got a Tootsie Roll"

Who could resist a dancing donkey piñata? I for one cannot, which is why I so quickly gravitated toward Dillon Francis's new one Candy. With a production assist from GTA and vocal assist from Snappy Jit, there's plenty of Moombahton goodness below. I'm trying to figure out whether Snappy's chipmunk style is completely synthesized or whether that's just the way he gets down. Either way, you'll definitely yourself shakin' it and/or droppin' it to the floor with this one. Good luck wrapping your head around the randomness of the video for it below. It starts out static like a lyric video, but then finds itself in this weird half-assed not quite a real video, but not a lyric video state. Maybe he's onto something new, but good luck topping it whoever decides to copy it...#Candy

Videos of the Week May 13th

This week's top five is deserving of two adjectives: entertaining and new. On the entertaining tip, you've got the new video for Need You where Dillon Francis is up to his usual shenanigans DJ-ing a rowdy backyard party. Then, there's the human serviette checking in with Drake and 40 in studio. No matter what you say about Nardwuar and his quirky antics, the dude can hold a pose!

On the music side of things, you had two up and comers continuing to make a name for themselves. When Desiigner wasn't picking fights with Bieber this week, he was continuing to get love from Kanye and releasing a video for his latest buzz track Panda. By now you should understand my love for all that is Gallant, so his performance on Fallon should be the least surprising aspect of this week's top five. Rounding out this week was Timbaland protege, Tink, who did he best to show off her skills on Gorgon City's new one. Didn't ever imagine Gorgon going that Hip Hop, but I dig the vibe on their new single...#ImpairedVision
Dillon Francis & NGHTMRE - Need You (Video)

Nardwuar vs Drake 2016

Gallant Performs Weight in Gold on Fallon

Gorgon City feat Tink & Mikky Ekko - Impaired Vision (Video)

Desiigner - Panda (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Dillon Francis Had a NGHTMRE and Needs You

Just when you thought Dillon Francis was taking a quick break from releasing music, he comes back with full force, Moombahtoning his way back into our hearts. Most noteworthy about his latest creation is the inclusion of Mad Decent's uber talented, rising star NGHTMRE. If there's one thing both producers share, it's the ability to pack every conceivable ounce of energy into each track. After a few listens to Need You, the wobbly, tribal rhythms are what stuck with me. The vocal sample adds intrigue and the hint of reggae will encourage you to keep listening. I'm chalking it up as another successful EDM collaboration love baby that will make you appreciate the genes of both proud parents...#NeedYou

Dillon Francis & NGHTMRE - Need You

The Right Song Gets the Right Remix

Remixing a Tiesto track has to be one of the most nerve wracking experiences. And not just remixing any song, remixing on of his new singles that everyone loves. Today, The Right Song, aka Wombass, was blessed with some Dillon Francis love today. Despite the monumental task of re-imagining an already awesome track, Dillon stood up to the challenge by putting his own Moombassss all over it. It bounces, it reverberates and doesn't wait for you to catch up for a whole four plus minutes. Awesome just got some whipped cream added to it tonight. You've got the green light to do a full clockwise turn on the volume to this one...#TheRightSong

Tiesto & Oliver Heldens feat Natalie La Rose - The Right Song (Dillon Francis Remix)

"Red Lips Always Lie"

Some remixes don't require much introduction or hype, they practically force you to press play on name recognition. File this one under that categorization as Dillon Francis and Skrillex went absolutely buckwild with GTA's Red Lips. You know how we do, we like comparing things in this hood of the internet, so check the original before imbibing in the "rebirth"...

Where the original is trappy and carried by some superb horns, the remix takes more on more of a skittish, tribal vibe. On one hand you've Dillon Francis covering the boomy Moombahton angle and Skrillex chipping in an speaker rattling, robotic samples. Definitely two very different sounds when comparing the original to the remix, but that's probably why they called it a rebirth. Can't complain about that free download via Soundcloud, though. Better get at that before the magical down arrow disappears....#RedLips

GTA - Red Lips (Dillon Francis X Skrillex Rebirth)

Videos of the Week December 14

A bit of an EDM heavy top five this week with new videos from a couple formidable duos leading the way. First, you've got the tremendously weird quasi-animated Set Me Free video from Dillon Francis and Martin Garrix. Can't say I've ever seen anything like that or if it's a good or bad thing. For more of a down to earth display of music, Zedd and Selena have your back with their energetic performance of I Want You to Know at Jingle Ball. Rounding out the EDM vibe was The Chainsmokers Roses Uber edition. Couldn't have picked a more fun duo to set the tone for that type of activity.

In non-electronic new, there was a blast from my childhood with the Independence Day 2 trailer. Conspicuously missing was Will Smith, which takes the excitement down a few notches, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic until Rotten Tomatoes tells me whether it's worth seeing. And last, but far from least was Kygo's performance of Firestone at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. The sheer fact that Trop House made it to that type of award event is mind boggling. Kudos to Kygo for continuing to do amazing things...#Kygo
Dillon Francis & Martin Garrix - Set Me Free (Video)

Zedd & Selena Gomez Perform I Want You to Know at Jingle Ball 2015

The Chainsmokers - Roses (Uber Edition)

Independence Day Resurgence (Trailer)

Kygo Performs Firestone at Nobel Peace Prize Concert

Photo Credit: YouTube