Critiqued by Lukey Lenz
Prince was an icon for his purple attire and in this video, Hymn brings his persona back to life with the pieces reminiscent of Prince's garb. Although his attire slightly emulates Prince, it is evident from our introduction to him that he is a bit more rugged and rough around the edges. Hymn pulls up to a suburban residency and spills all of his Liquid Death water cans that have piled up on the floor of his vehicle. When he approaches the house and knocks on the door, an older gentleman receives him, holding up a flier with the title “Magic Jack: Party Services”. In addition, there are other adjectives like “reliable” and “not drunk” listed as some of the benefits of doing business with him which is comedic.
Artistically, the best part of this video is displayed at the beginning as it plays on an old 90’s / early 2000’s styled commercial very similar to a “wait, there's more” type infomercial. In his ad, a narrator describes the Magic Jack’s Magic Kit where it claims to endow you with more “sauce” and the potential product to keep your enemies away with “Op Repellent 3000”. To say the least, it is very stylish and brings other themes into the present.
I must note the importance of the color grade on this music video. It's very gray and cinematic despite boasting much color from the flamingos to the characters’ attire. Whereas many music video tropes such as classrooms, half naked women, and an disgruntled older gentleman are all present, the visual style and clarity are very top notch. You can tell Hymn took his time by curating locations, cast, and equipment used to create this short film.
Check it out:
https://youtu.be/s8V5f18aQ4Y
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