We know. We gave a lot of love to Erykah Badu around these parts in 2008. From her album release, to her interviews, to her love life, to her pregnancy, to her commericals, to even her posters, SoulBounce is clearly in E-Boogie's corner. Some of you, not so much. Which is fine. Hopefully, one thing we can all agree on is that the video for New AmErykah (Part One)'s lead single, "Honey," definitely deserves the distinction of SoulBounce Honors Video of the Year.
Yes, it bowed in late January. And sure, hundreds of videos (if not more) have come across our screens since then. However, the fact that no video this year came close to matching the clip's creativity or understated genius, speaks volumes about its excellence. Reuters called the clip a forthright "love letter addressed in equal measure to a special soul, and to some classic records that have been among the greatest loves of our lives." Word.
Directed by Badu and Chris Robinson, the GRAMMY-nominated "Honey" starts out as a simple romp through a neighborhood record store, but blossoms into a much-welcomed trip down a musical memory lane, with iconic R&B, hip-hop and rock album covers coming to life in an unequivocal tribute to music and music lovers. It doubles as the ultimate Trivial Pursuit session, too (although we helped you cheat), with so many spending days trying to locate every cover recreated.
There was a lot crammed into the four plus minutes, including a video-within-the-video clip of Badu's super-group Edith Funker performing an excerpt of their song, "Annie" and a shout out to E's baby daddy Andre 3000's hit "Hey Ya!" What else could you want? The graphics? Sharp. The re-creations? Nearly impeccable. The recognition? Well-deserved.
A video for the ages. Soul that literally bounced off of the screen. That's how we like it here. I'm sure that's something else with which we can all agree.
