Zion I, "Geek to the Beat"

i like this video for several reasons.:

1. his hair. im having a bit of an obsession with thick locs right now.
2. i can respect any hip hop track that incorporate djembes/African drums.
3. the first words out of his mouth is “you’re over-civilized.” instant win.
4. he’s so bouncy!
5. i dig the concept and the execution.
6., and the is most important, i ESPECIALLY dig how they filmed the dance sequences. not a bunch of quick cuts attempting to generate artificial excitement, the dancing is allowed to speak for itself. i don’t know why editors have insisted on butchering dance on film for so long. look at Michael Jackson's videos and how dance was framed, versus how it's treated today. (and, i realize that might not be the fairest comparison. Michael and Usher were/are operating from vastly different places in terms of how the music industry worked and how music videos were made. MJ was able to do what he did w/ music videos because at the time - the 80s - the music video was still an experimental form. and Usher is coming from a post-90s, post-Hype Williams, post moment of codification of what music videos "have" to look like. and he's also coming from an era that has effectively collapsed the boundaries between rap and R&B - R&B (contemporary anyway) is basically rap's little brother now. but at the same time i think there's something there worth investigating in terms of the increasing marginalization of dance and dancing bodies in rap/pop/R&B music videos since the 80s, where it goes from this really central thing to this more ornamental thing....and maybe the gendered dynamics of this process?)
7. i also like how they’re doing hip hop dance in fancy dresses.