'Next 2 You' music video
The immediate problem with Chris Brown’s “Next 2 You” music video is that it features both Chris Brown and guest artist Justin Bieber as heroic characters. Both Chris and Justin here star in the video as loving boyfriends who are separated from their girlfriends when a storm, an earthquake, and random car explosions all somehow hit their city at once. They then have to find their girlfriends amidst the wreckage.
The problem is that their heroic actions in the video are in contrast to their public persona. Sure, they gave Justin a new haircut and “grown-up” leather jackets, but he still sounds like a boy who should be singing on the Disney Channel. But at least Justin is only silly and amusing, while Chris Brown comes off as hypocritical.
Here, he jumps across a ravine to save his girlfriend; you’ll risk your life for her, huh? Like you did for Rihanna? How can you sing about undying devotion when you almost strangled one of your last girlfriends?
I have tried to separate his past actions from his music, but it’s hard to do that when most of his songs are about relationships. I’m not usually a fan of songs about “true love” since I find most of them generic, but I understand why other people like them: it’s wish-fulfillment where you either imagine the comfort of having someone to depend upon, or you imagine the power of having someone else utterly depend on you.
With Chris Brown, though, that idealized image is completely shattered, especially since his violence issues are
Even if you ignore Chris and Justin’s own personas, the video itself still disappoints. The special effects with the explosions and broken streets look good, but the choreography is terrible. There’s one scene where Justin beats his chest with his hand and wails at a stormy sky, and quite frankly, he isn’t a good enough actor to convey the scene without melodrama. Meanwhile, I’m fairly certain that ducks and penguins can dance better than Chris Brown.