I heard this song on Pandora this morning & had forgotten about it. Am so wowed by its video & lyrics & raw emotion. Way to go America for recognizing magic in the mainstream. It’s so exciting when that happens! (e.g. GAGA!?) And major props to Eminem for kicking a bad addiction to pills & to director Chris Robinson for keeping the vision in this video so simple and clear. I love it.
Even more than that, I love that this song pulled through as #18 on the billboard charts for April. Clearly it resonates. For the same reasons internet memes are delightful because they touch upon a collective notion of what’s funny or worth spreading — I view purchasing patterns @ the box office & billboard charts similarly. The fact that hip hop or rap or rap rock or whatever you want to call this caught on & blew up is very promising. Yes, it’s very 2 well known and high profile artists but still I find it impressive that there are no video vixens & there’s a notable absence of yachts slash big pimpin’… way to go America for still getting it & way to go Lil Wayne for going this direction!1 I love when this country shows the same muscle/promise that elected Obama. Gold star!!!
1as opposed to prior work. When I met Lil Wayne in 07, I was working on the viral campaigns for a series of his collaborations with Interscope artists & so this song also makes me happy as it reflects such an evolution for him from prior work that was more party focused. neither is right or wrong, it’s just so cool to see what he’s capable of — genre blending & heavy lyrical content etc…<end>
