Bizarro World

A new wave of strange hip hop videos has hit the airwaves recently.

Exhibit A: T-Pain - Can't Believe It (feat. Lil Wayne)
T-Wayne - as the duo has come to name itself - released this video a couple of months ago. First, T-Pain as a travel agent takes us on a worldwide tour taking us to exotic destinations (like Wisconsin and Toronto). This tour is interspersed with T-Pain as a ring leader / carnival barker / magician taking us on a tour of a circus / carnival / magic show. Lil Wayne makes an appearance mumbling some unintelligible lyrics. Can't quite pinpoint why I enjoy this, but I do.

Exhibit B: Common - Universal Mind Control (feat. Pharrell)
This video has everything. Tron-like computer graphics. Stark black and white broken with psychedelic rainbow tunnels. Pharrell as a robot. Also, I swear I saw a schematic for mitochondria in there.

Exhibit C: Kanye West - Love Lockdown
Supposedly some elements of the video were inspired by Patrick Bateman (of American Psycho fame). I'm not sure I see that, but I will say this. What in the what? Sparse living room setting. Kanye seemingly agonizing over some heartache. Tribal warriors. Giant women in DayGlo paint. It's simply surreal. The song itself is a real stretch for Kanye. This video is just something else entirely. Is 808s & Heartbreak going to be a concept album? If so, what's the concept?

P.S. Kanye premiered this video on Ellen on Oct 7. He performed the same song later in the show. Talk about expanding your audience.