Best Hip-hop Videos Of The Week

Old school visuals were the theme of the week, as E-40, Iamsu!, Freddie Gibbs, Ty Dolla $ign and Sage the Gemini all dropped new music videos. From fish-eye lenses, to factory eye candy,and a good ol' fashioned college party with KY jelly wrestling, this weeks offerings were anything but tame.

Check out the top hip-hop videos of the week.

E-40 feat. Skeme - "Turn up Burn up"

E-40's raw factory inspired visuals for 'Turn up or Burn Up' dropped this week, and the Bay area rapper certainly brought out the honey's. The theme of flames and fire, run throughout the video, often used in fairly creative video composites which feature E-40 and Skeme, silhouetted against the video's eye candy. Not a huge fan of the CGI flames licking the edge of the video frame, but the sleek composites populating the rest of the video more than make up for it..

Iamsu! feat. HBK Gange - "Never Goin' Broke"

The visuals for "Never Goin Broke' are interesting to say the least. The video begins with a 1:30 continuous shot, which is hardly noticeable underneath the slew of retro style edits and filters all shot with a fish-eye lens. Harkening back to rap/hip-videos of the 90's, the entire HBK gang is featured one by one, while the whole gang can be seen through the use of that extreme wide angle lens (what seems like an intentional choice, given the premium of screen real estate).

The anthemic track ends with none other than sage, grabbing the camera, and running outside, only to pose on the grass outside with someone in the background saying "That shit's going viral man." The video is certainly unique enough to.

Freddie Gibbs feat. Problem - "One Eighty Seven"

This week, Freddie Gibbs released visuals for this track 'One Eighty Seven' feat. Problem. The video is notable for it's use of sync text throughout the stark black and white video track. While rapping around a 'alarm clock' style light which says "one eighty seven' written out, eye candy girls tease .45 magnums around their lingerie.

The beat is catchy as all hell, and compounded by break-neck speed edits during the synth drum sputter. It's a nice visual element which calls attention to the beat, rather than trying to have the video stand by itself.

Ty Dolla $ign Feat. Juicy J - "Ratchet in my Benz"

While certainly not pushing the boundaries of the hip-hop/R&B video, Ty Dolla $ign's newest video "Ratchet in My Benz" feels like a beautifully shot advertisement for Mercedes limo's and what might happen in the back of the stretch given the right amount of smoking. With that said, there's something undeniably sexy about the video; maybe it's the pacing, maybe it's the women, or maybe it's just the track. Regardless, I can see the video getting plenty of traffic, playing in the background of a candlelit penthouse party. A 'cheers' of the martini glass to you.

Sage the Gemini Feat. Kool John - "College Drop"

In keeping with the themes of Gas Pedal and Red Nose, Sage the Gemini released his new dance inspired video for "College Drop" this week. The video begins with 'not so subtle' references to Method Man and Red Man's movie 'How High' and then quickly transitions into college party mode featuring KY wrestling in a kiddy pool, and choreographed dancing in a frat house basement, to a beat reminiscent of Cassie's "Me and U"

The middle of video is cut up with an interlude, showcasing two pimp wannabe's discussing the trials of the game while waiting to enter the party being thrown by Sage and Kool John. The performances here are pretty hilarious, and offer a nice continuation from the skit at the beginning of the video, especially the 'Where's my bitches' sequence at 3:55.

It's nice to see Sage come out with a video where he's not taking himself too seriously, but not pulling back any of the intensity already establishing with 'Gas Pedal' and 'Red Nose'. Well done sir.