Image source: Serena Williams via Facebook
Music is an essential part of most of our lives and for artists we like, watching the music videos that accompany our favorite songs can be doubly thrilling. Especially when the videos tell a story to go along with the music itself. Over the years, we’ve seen many actors and actresses star in music videos, as well as fellow musicians making cameos in videos of tracks they’re not associated with – for instance, on Duck Sauce’s Barbara Streisand. However, there seems to be a growing trend for sports personalities to appear in music videos too. This is no surprise given how influential both artists and athletes are in today’s society. Here are a few examples:
Michael Jackson and Magic Johnson
“Remember the Time” was a popular recording by the late American pop legend Michael Jackson. It was released in 1992 and featured on the Dangerous album reaching Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts and number 1 on the Billboard R & B singles charts. The hit single “Remember the Time” features guest appearances by Iman, Eddie Murphy and Magic Johnson. Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr., born August 14, 1959, was at this time an American retired professional basketball player. The song was written by Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle and Michael Jackson, produced by Jackson and Riley. The nine-minute music video was set in ancient Egypt. Eddie Murphy plays the pharaoh, Iman Abdulmajid plays his wife, with whom Jackson flirts with in the video. Magic Johnson played the part of the Herald. The video used a sophisticated trick technique that dissolved the spinning Michael Jackson into grains of sand – CGI that was quite innovative for its time.
Beyoncé and Serena Williams
Two months after the release of Beyoncé’s album “Lemonade”, the music video for the song “Sorry” was released and available exclusively on Vevo. The creative black-and-white clip was created by director Dikayl Rimmasch. Serena is seen dancing and twerking as Beyoncé lounges in a throne, while various dancers in artsy body paint dance in the background. The fact that the two women made a collaboration is not a big surprise since they have been friends for years, which is fitting for two of the brightest stars in their industries. In fact, Lottoland Canada chose to include Serena Williams in their list of the top ten most inspirational athletes, pointing out that she has over 9 million followers on Twitter and won her first Grand Slam at age 17.
P. Diddy and Mike Tyson
American rapper P. Diddy, Mark Curry and Black Rob created a song “Bad Boy for Life”. It was produced by Megahertz and has been released as a single. The music video for “Bad Boy for Life” was staged by Chris Robinson, shot in June 2001 and released in early July. There are a number of guest appearances including drummer Travis Barker, guitarist Dave Navarro, boxer Mike Tyson, actor Ben Stiller, rapper Xzibit, actor Richard Dunn, Snoop Dogg, basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, television presenter Pat O’Brien, rap rock band Crazy Town and Baron Davis. The video was nominated for Best Rap Video and MTV Video Music Awards in 2002. Although Mike Tyson retired in 2005, he still holds quite a few records, including being the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title, at age 20 and a few months.
Energetic music and athletics go hand in hand. Both things just take over the body and can lift up our spirits. Whether we are watching sports or even participating or working out, music is the perfect accompaniment.
