Videos of the Week October 27th

Fun mix of real videos, novelty, and a documentary in this week's top five. Led by Calvin Harris and Marshmello, there were some entertaining Hip Hop and EDM collabos. The visuals on Faking It were downright stunning with Lil Yachty and Kehlani literally iced out in a winter setting. Then Marshmello and Khalid turned to the streets to illustrate a higher message on Silence. It isn't a usual thing for EDM tracks to have deeper messages, so kudos to them for reaching higher.

In the world of novelty, Machlemore and Lin-Manuel Miranda stole the week. It seems apropos that Macklemore get his astrological chart read given his latest album is titled Gemini, but there's plenty of comedy gold buried in that one. Cool that he had it done in SF too. And if you're wondering whether Lin-Manuel could hold his own as a rapper, just listen to him freestyle off the cuff with ammo from Fallon's studio audience. Rounding out this week's top five is a documentary highlighting the good, bad, and the ugly of being a high profile DJ on tour nowadays. Sure it comes with a lot of fame, glamour, and wealth, but as Biggie Smalls put it, "mo' money, mo' problems." Despite the somewhat eye opening content, it's interesting to see someone pull back the curtain a bit to give a real feel for the mental and physical toll it can put on DJs...#DJSounds

Calvin Harris feat Kehlani & Lil Yachty - Faking It (Video)

Marshmello & Khalid - Silence (Video)

Macklemore Gets His Astrological Chart Read

Lin-Manuel Miranda Stops in to Freestyle with The Roots

Why We DJ - Slaves to the Rhythm (Documentary)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week May 5th

This week's top five was unique in that it starts and ends with Jimmy Kimmel's monologue about the birth of his newborn son. If you don't get at least a little choked up over hearing the sadness in his voice over feeling helpless about the situation as a whole, then you need to check yourself. His story aside, I appreciated his story and how it directly relates the the healthcare bills that are being mulled over by the House this week. Let's just hope the listened and make the right decision, ultimately.

Aside from Kimmel's impactful story, there were a few videos in Hip Hop that had the internet collective pressing play over and over again. J Cole's 4 Your Eyez Only documentary was previously released via other outlets like HBO, but this week it got put on YouTube for consumption from the masses. The word real comes to mind when watching him go to the various cities in the South and hear stories from the people trying to make it through the day-to-day. Watching the documentary and then transitioning to DJ Khaled's star studded video for I'm the One was about as stark of a difference as you'll get in VOTW. Needless to say, everything about it was tried and true Hip Hop from the video girls to the pool parties to the immaculately trimmed hedges.

Making sure EDM got their contribution for the week was Gryffin and Illenium's Feel Good. The video is cool and all, but that candlelight version that features Daya's stunning vocals is officially where it's at. Speaking of where it's at, it wouldn't be a complete week without at least a few shennanigans. This time it came from Fallon's crew who put together a minute long mash up of Star Wars characters singing Smash Mouth's classic, All Star. It's kitchy, but it delivers the entertainment value you'd expect from a novelty like that...#AllStarWars

Jimmy Kimmel Monologue About His Son's Heart Condition

J Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only Documentary

DJ Khaled feat Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper & Lil Wayne - I'm On One (Video)

Gryffin & Illenium feat Daya - Feel Good (Video)

Fallon Mashes Up Smash Mouth's All Star With Star Wars Movies
Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week February 17th

Man, I'm not sure what the deal is with 2017, but it's been one stellar week of videos after another. This week I legitimately had about 15 videos that I had to narrow down to a top five, which proved to be a thankless task. It was a tough decision, but if I didn't include Melissa McCarthy's latest SNL skit where she roasts Sean Spicer, I wouldn't be doing this list any justice. Maybe our political system is a bit messy right now, but it's creating such an onslaught of comedy gold that we've got more than enough to be distracted with. Similarly, I probably could have created an entire post dedicated to The Grammys, but instead I've been sprinkling the videos across posts this week. I particularly enjoyed Weeknd's performance of I Feel It Coming with Daft Punk, though.

In the world of regular videos, The Weeknd made sure to keep his name circulating with visuals for Reminder. In the video you may see Drake, Travis Scott, and A$AP Rocky partaking in the expensive cars and private jet with Abel. Must be nice to have so many friends in high places. In case you forgot about Alex and Drew for a minute, they got back in the limelight with their new video for Paris. Man they really meant that "if we go down, then we go down together" line because there was a lot of falling from heights in their new one. Luckily there was a soft landing, sort of like the couch in NxWorries performance of What More Can I Say on Fallon (see what I did there?). Who says you can't perform on stage in your jammies? I know Anderson .Paak doesn't care and neither should you...#NxWorries
The Weeknd and Daft Punk Perform Star Boy and I Feel It Coming at The Grammys

Melissa McCarthy IS Sean Spicer on SNL

The Weeknd - Reminder (Video)

The Chainsmokers - Paris (Video)

NxWorries Perform What More Can I Say on Fallon

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week February 3rd

If only every week could be as hype as this week's top five. Performances were the name of the game this week, front to back. Led by the Rockin' 1000 people who congregated in Cesena, Italy to form the largest rock band on earth to perform Nirvana's classic, Smells Like Teen Spirit. I'll admit, I thought it was going to sound like a catastrophe of sound, but it delivered the goods. If you don't get hype seeing all those people with drum sets and electric guitars then you weren't watching the same video that I was.

Then NPR hosted both D.R.A.M. and Gallant for a couple Tiny Desk concerts. Both were impactful performances as I gained more respective for D.R.A.M. and became more convinced that Gallant is far and away the most dynamic singer in music right now. Simply put, you need to watch both. And while you're at it, give MGK and Camila Cabello's rendition of Bad Things a quick watch. The mix of a nostalgic classic with updated vocals and rap verses made for one of the more noteworthy collaborations over the past year. And last, but never ever least, here's yet another example of why Jon Bellion's live show is must see. On Fallon he led off his performance with an unreleased verse “Hall & Oates” over a live rendition of a J Dilla beat as a tribute to one of his idols. I've seen him perform All Time Low maybe 10 times now and every time he does it slightly different and adds in a new unique element. There's so much more to come from Jon B in 2017 and a performance on Fallon is a strong indicator of how widely his talent begin to be regarded...#AllTimeLow

Rockin' 1000 Performs Smells Like Teen Spirit

D.R.A.M. Performs Five Songs From NPR's Tiny Desk

Gallant Performs at NPR's Tiny Desk

Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello Perform Bad Things on Ellen

Jon Bellion Performs J Dilla Tribute of All Time Low on Fallon

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week November 18th

This was definitely the week for new beginnings and reinterpretations. As far as reinterpretations are concerned, anytime The Roots and Fallon decide to go all acapella and schoolyard instrumental in the classroom, you know it will get some love on this internet property. This time they joined Metallica in a spirited, yet surprisingly accessible version of Enter Sandman. The energy of the track is the same, yet it sounds so different. Sticking with the remixes, I found myself in awe of Sarah Hyland's (of Modern Family) vocal abilities on her cover of The Chainsmokers' with Boyce Avenue. Coming close to Halsey vocally is no small feat and she more than held her own on the duet.

It's becoming routine, but I had to post The Chainsmokers new visuals for All We Know with Phoebe Ryan. They truly have a knack for not only telling stories through their music, but also crafting a matching story visual story that engenders a similar emotional reaction. Love the first person camera perspective of the video, it gave allows the audience to exist in someone else's shoes, if for only three and a half minutes. Switching gears to the new beginnings portion of the top five, meet Amine, a rapper from Portland who burst onto the scene with his recent viral hit Caroline. It was so buzzy that it got him a spot on Fallon and he crushed it! And last, but not least, we've got another (sort of) new beginning with Chocolate Droppa. Sure, it's really Kevin Hart, but he does his best R&B artist impression with the help of Trey Songz on Push It On Me. I'll admit though, I almost lost it when he coasted to a finish acapella in the video 😂...#ChocolateDroppa
The Roots and Metallica Sing Enter Sandman (Classroom Instruments Version)

Boyce Avenue feat Sarah Hyland (of Modern Family) Cover The Chainsmokers & Halsey's Closer

The Chainsmokers feat Phoebe Ryan - All We Know (Video)

Amine Performs Viral Hit Caroline on Fallon

Chocolate Droppa (Kevin Hart) feat Trey Songz - Push It On Me (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube