Who on earth has the power to coalesce four rap gods on one track? If you thought Jay-Z, you were close but wrong. The answer: LeBron James. For his upcoming documentary, "More Than a Game," the basketball superstar was fortunate (or wealthy?) enough to get this all-star collaboration on the soundtrack and so far, it's been a runaway success. The song has been at the top of the iTunes charts for the past week, this even AFTER Kanye's mic snatching PR nightmare. The verses bat from rapper to rapper, like a hot potatoe, with each rapper dropping electrifying line after line, attacking the beat with a ravenous hunger — especially Eminem.
So what a huge let down that with all that star power on one track, the best video that critically-acclaimed music video director Hype Williams could put together is his usual purple/blue-hued clip show mess. Watch the video for "Forever" below.
To be fair, perhaps Hype had restrictions, and the rappers weren't able to film together at the same time. Understandable. But the best he could do was a crappy club video interspersed with clips of a goofy-looking LeBron as a kid? Hype, maybe retiring from music videos wasn't such a bad idea...
Drake's scene features an overlayed image of himself on himself while he raps, spazzy hands and all. The wardrobe? A white tee and a hoody. What club let him in wearing that?
Kanye's scene is all fire and brimstone, with pyro fizzing through most of his scene. If Kanye had more hair, he might worry about it catching on fire like MJ. The fire ball effects here are nice, but 'Ye is so poorly lit in this scene that his skin looks like an oil slick.
Lil' Wayne's scene features his papa bear, Baby, and some background honeys. Hype blesses us with many unfortunate close-ups up Weezy's grill. Throughout his whole verse, Lil' Wayne never even bothers to stand up. Guess he's just not that into it.
Lastly, Eminem dusted off his old 8 Mile hoody and got a bunch of Detroit bammas to stand behind him while he twitches his eyes furiously and contorts his face. The verse is dope but why is it that Em only seems to spit hard when he puts that dingy old hoody on? Is it magic?
Verdict: Dope collaboration, not so memorable video. Soundtracks might be making a comeback, but their music videos still have a way to go.
