Sky Ferreira gets in a pretty dangerous-looking area of Compton in a 90s gangsta rap-inspired stylish video for "I Blame Myself," with some help from online fashion retailer SSENSE, who styled her for the shoot. The fault-admitting track is the second single from the 21-year-old singer's debut album "Night Time, My Time," which Rolling Stone, The New Yorker or The Guardian had no trouble calling one of the best album of the last year. The new clip sees Ferreira plays with gender dynamics in gang culture, a context in which her punky pop has likely never been considered. The juxtaposition, as it turns out, speaks to a larger message about power and vulnerability.
After more than five years as a rising pop star, Ferreira must be used to her singles going underappreciated, and "I Blame Myself" was the most underappreciated track and arguably the best song off her already great debut album. Indebted less to '90s alt than the kind of sparkly, introspective pop that's not tied to any decade - like Ferreira's own "Everything Is Embarrassing" - it was both immediate and searing, sparing no fury for the intersection of condescension, sexualization and she encountered while churning through the major-label teen pop machine, while never being obvious. It goes right for the throat: of its targets, of its hooks.
Ferreira's searing, wounded synthpop anthem finds she singing: "How could you know what it feels like to fight the hounds of hell / You think you know me so well? / I blame, I blame myself... for my reputation." Ferreira's "I Blame Myself," is a ’90s-throwback, West Coast hip-hop look and feel that gets its power from its extreme vulnerability. The lyrics detail the frustration of being a face without a voice, with Ferreira ultimately taking responsibility for the way her actions have been misconstrued over the years. The song speaks to the icky truths we may not want to admit to ourselves, because we know we shouldn't take the blame and yet we still think that way.
Filmed in Compton by Grant Singer, the clip starts with a gang boss taking care of business. The singer appears as a kind of gang leader, called up to settle a dispute. There's the shots of her chilling on the hood of a car with her boys, riding along, and ultimately, all of them doing a choreographed dance routine that looks like something of a late-'90s boy-band video. As the video goes on, we see that Ferreira subsequently gets arrested and interrogated. It ends up approaching the same "wimpy pop star coming off as totally badass" vibe that Michael Jackson channeled in "Bad." Needless to say, it is great. We love the stylish-ness, the hair-tossing and the dance breakdowns! Watch it at SSENSE now.
After more than five years as a rising pop star, Ferreira must be used to her singles going underappreciated, and "I Blame Myself" was the most underappreciated track and arguably the best song off her already great debut album. Indebted less to '90s alt than the kind of sparkly, introspective pop that's not tied to any decade - like Ferreira's own "Everything Is Embarrassing" - it was both immediate and searing, sparing no fury for the intersection of condescension, sexualization and she encountered while churning through the major-label teen pop machine, while never being obvious. It goes right for the throat: of its targets, of its hooks.
Ferreira's searing, wounded synthpop anthem finds she singing: "How could you know what it feels like to fight the hounds of hell / You think you know me so well? / I blame, I blame myself... for my reputation." Ferreira's "I Blame Myself," is a ’90s-throwback, West Coast hip-hop look and feel that gets its power from its extreme vulnerability. The lyrics detail the frustration of being a face without a voice, with Ferreira ultimately taking responsibility for the way her actions have been misconstrued over the years. The song speaks to the icky truths we may not want to admit to ourselves, because we know we shouldn't take the blame and yet we still think that way.
Filmed in Compton by Grant Singer, the clip starts with a gang boss taking care of business. The singer appears as a kind of gang leader, called up to settle a dispute. There's the shots of her chilling on the hood of a car with her boys, riding along, and ultimately, all of them doing a choreographed dance routine that looks like something of a late-'90s boy-band video. As the video goes on, we see that Ferreira subsequently gets arrested and interrogated. It ends up approaching the same "wimpy pop star coming off as totally badass" vibe that Michael Jackson channeled in "Bad." Needless to say, it is great. We love the stylish-ness, the hair-tossing and the dance breakdowns! Watch it at SSENSE now.
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