Beyoncé: 1+1
Kalediscope visuals and sex-inflamed passion gets in the way of the point
Despite the lack of hit singles aboard the 4 album, Beyoncé is still Queen B. Certianly artists deserve an off day. And usually it’s when an artist approaches the age of 30 that a more-desperate appetite for fame sticks out and the creative impulses goes in…ehh…various directions. With Gaga and Katy Perry changing the battleground of pop music, Beyoncé is now turning her attention to music videos, pumping out just as many music videos than singles. Especially since the released singles haven’t been doing what they had hoped to do.
“1+1” is Beyoncé Knowles’ latest invention. It brings in honey, glitter, dizzy ViewMaster visuals, Playboy waterfall effects and lots of Crisco oil. She channels her inner-“Untitled” (a la D’Angelo) and tries her damnest to create a four-minute piece that looks like a TV aquarium in action. The last minute of the vid possess enough psychedelia to turn Justin Bieber into a pothead. And then there’s all the odes to all the familiar marketing ploys known to man, as if the video was creating a smorgasbord of campaigns for Tyra Banks, L’Oreal, Victoria’s Secret and even Dark Phoenix snapshots for the next X-Men flick.
Overall, the video has its share of perks. Inside the product, the ferrous beauty of Knowles leaps through the screen, warming up male genitalia as she purrs out “make love to me” with a raging 3 a.m. hotness. But she tries a little too hard to be sexy and original. And she doesn’t have to. The sexiness is there, for God’s sake. As simple as “1+1” sounds, the visuals are overcooked using the slippery K-Y lubricants used on her flesh. Viewers have to leave the four-minute montage wondering if a director’s cut might be leaked. It’s possible. Her album did.
J MATTHEW COBB