I think I've made it relatively clear that I'm not a huge fan of Rihanna's latest album. It's not just the creepy domestic violence references, I think it's more than the tempo of much of the music seems to fall in an uncomfortable midrange zone, not quite ballad slow, and not quite dance-club fast. I feel like "Rude Boy" has the same musical issues, but I love the video for it:
It took me a few minutes to figure out why. The dancing is basically dull. There isn't a narrative to it. Many of Rihanna's outfits look incredibly unflattering on her. But the color, a rich, late-80's/early-90's palatte, is flashy and a lot of fun. Many people will point to this as an obvious M.I.A. ripoff, and I'm not going to make a case for its originality. Lady Gaga did a similar, if somewhat more subdued (I'm sure that's a first in my writing about her) thing in the largely overlooked video for "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" (which also has some interesting nods to her Italian heritage):
But I feel like so many music videos have either had muted colors, or relied on a single color like the white in the "Bad Romance" official video that this could be a very refreshing trend. Maybe it's just that I'm souring on a monochromatic palette because of the weather, but this feels summery, and fresh to me.