Review: Kanye West ft. Rihanna & Kid Cudi “All Of The Lights” Dir. By Hype Williams

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If you haven’t seen the “All Of The Lights” video yet, you should definitely watch it! Due to restrictions on Kanye West’s VEVO account on YouTube, I can’t embed the “All Of The Lights” video here. However, you can easily watch it on YouTube in HD: Kanye West – All Of The Lights ft. Rihanna and Kid Cudi.

For the past two months, I’ve been playing both Kanye’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” which has been critically acclaimed as one of the best albums of 2010, and Kid Cudi’s “Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager,” which I also believe is one of the best albums of 2010. Between these two, I have been in musical bliss. I love it when Kanye and Cudi team up (e.g. Gorgeous, Welcome to Heartbreak, Erase Me, Make Her Say, etc.), and “All Of The Lights” is no different.

Jordans, Cop Cars, Diamond Teeth…All Of The Lights!

There have been mixed reviews on this video. I wouldn’t call it video of the year, but I don’t think it’s horrible. Despite the brief moments of epileptic shock inducing flashing lights, Hype Williams did a great job with “All Of The Lights”! I’m not sure why people expect a Transformers II-esque production out of every Hype Williams/Kanye music video, but, hey, we live in a time of high expectations, I guess. Hype definitely got some great shots of Kanye in the video. Kanye is wearing the black/cement Air Jordan III’s, which are one of my FAVORITE sneakers in my collection. Kanye is no stranger to a pair of Jordans, Air Maxes, Dunks, etc.

You all know Kanye went rockstar on us, and this past October (2010) he revealed that he got his bottom teeth replaced with diamonds. Why? Because that’s rockstar sh*t, I guess. As the “All Of The Lights” video opens up, we see a little girl walking the streets, lots of flashing lights, and then awesome closeups of Kanye’s gold, goatee, and glasses (how’s that for alliteration?), and most importantly: his diamond teeth! Like Drake once said, “the visuals are stunning.” I admire Kanye because he is sincere, fashionable, and most of all he’s a musical genius. Many may think otherwise, but album sales and chart rankings don’t lie.

Let’s Not Forget About Rihanna’s Boobs!

Along with Kid Cudi, Rihanna also contributed boobs–I mean vocals–to the track. In fact, she sings the whole chorus. Everyone has their opinion about Rihanna. I personally don’t think she’s the greatest singer, but the music she puts out is dope. Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, musical talent seems to encompass more than just one’s ability to sing these days. Rihanna is what you’d call the total package, I guess, since she’s marketable as a Caribbean-pop singer/model type thing. I think it’s safe to say, though, that Rihanna’s breasts upstaged her presence in the “All Of The Lights” video. Nice directing, Hype!

The biggest question I have about the “All Of The Lights” video, though, is where is Fergie’s verse? That’s the dopest part! “Unemployment line, Credit card declined…”