Beyonce and Jay-Z released "RUN" tour trailer

Beyoncé and Jay-Z seem to be taking advice from Mad Men's Don Draper and Peggy Olson: If you don't like what they're saying, change the conversation. Just a few days after releasing a joint statement about the Solange-Jay-Z elevator fight that had the Internet abuzz, the TIME 100 cover star and her husband unexpectedly premiered a faux short film "RUN" on Sunday. The star-studded, high cinematic visual - a thematic nod to their first collaboration, 2002's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde," and its 2013 sequel "Part II (On the Run)," which plays in the background, serves as a promo trailer to entice fans with what to expect for Beyoncé and Jay-Z's forthcoming highly anticipated the 16-city "On The Run" tour, which kicks off on June 25th in Miami and will mark the first time the singer and her rapper husband have toured jointly.
Melina Matsoukas, who directed Beyoncé's video for "Pretty Hurts," also helmed this gripping big budget near-four-minute "RUN" mini-movie, which the Hip-hop's royal couple didn't skimp by recruiting some of Hollywood's heavy hitters, including Sean Penn, Scandal's Guillermo Diaz, "stars" Don Cheadle, Jake Gyllenhaal, Blake Lively, Emmy Rossum, Rashida Jones and her sister Kidada Jones all make appearances for crime, betrayal, violence, love and sex.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z are once again play race around the city like a modern day 'Bonny and Clyde,' two criminals whom tote guns, rob banks and run from the law while professing their undying love for one another. "You don't know who I am anymore," the "Run the World" singer responds before proclaiming her love for Jay-Z, which is why she's chosen to live such a risky life. "I love him." Their dangerous love is shown throughout the promo with various scenes of them being intimate and even one part where Beyoncé is stitching up Jay-Z's arm after he sustained an injury.
Though it (unfortunately) won't be a real movie, the video also does feature everything Beyoncé fans would want in a music video: She fires machine guns, runs from cops in fabulous outfits and puts other celebrities in her place. If you think the nearly four-minute that this mini-movie lasts are not enough, and that most-likely Beyoncé and Jay-Z will release the 'full thing' later, then your dreams will be crushed when you read the ending caption reading...'COMING NEVER.'

Beyoncé gives ultimate sexy show in "Partition"

Beyoncé, following up to her sexually-charged performance of "Drunk in Love" with her husband Jay-Z at this year's GRAMMY Awards, unleashed the elegant, magnificent and eye-popping video for her next single "Partition," which was co-penned by Justin Timberlake as third single on the R&B star's self-titled fifth album. Beyoncé explained in videos for the album that she is very much aware that she is showing off her body; she wants to prove to women that you can have children and still have an amazing body. The "XO" singer and Rise Fragrance creator wasn't singing much about love, but served up sex for the latest clip.
"Partition" is a sexy urban song, that Beyoncé wrote inspired by the thoughts she had on her mind the night she got engaged to Jay-Z. The track opens with the call-and-response that Beyoncé pumps the crowd with before going to "Get Me Bodied" every night on tour. It contains explicit lyrics that describes Beyoncé making love in a limousine. She sings in French on the bridge, where she criticizes those who believe feminists are not interested in sex. And the steamy track gives gawkers a peek into the intimate side of Beyoncé's marriage to Jay-Z. If you thought their Grammy performance was too hot to handle, you'll want to take a cold shower in Siberia after watching this video, which features Beyoncé performing a striptease on a piano and giving viewers a whole new way to think about the word "peaches."
Directed by Jake Nava, the sexy, extravagant and scintillating clip was inspired by Beyoncé's desire to prove that women can maintain their personal sexy even after childbirth, and a trip to the famous Crazy Horse strip club in Paris. "The day I got engaged was my husband's birthday and I took him to Crazy Horse and I remember thinking, 'Damn, these girls are fly.' And I just thought it was the ultimate sexy show: 'I wish I was up there, I wish I could perform that for my man...' so that's what I did for my video," said Beyoncé.
"It takes me back to when me and my husband first meet and he's trying to scoop me and he thinks I'm the hottest thing in the world," she explained. "I kinda had this whole fantasy of being in the car and this whole movie played in my head." Opening with Beyoncé staring down her man at the breakfast table while drinking tea, the clip dives down a rabbit hole of burlesque shows, strip teases and backseat canoodling as the Beyoncé danced suggestively, showcasing her famous assets and teases Jay-Z, who makes another classic, cigar-smoking cameo with an array of outfits and head-spinning dance moves. The clip suddenly cuts back to the breakfast table at the very end in classic it-was-all-a-dream fashion.

Beyoncé is madly "Drunk in Love" with JAY-Z

Beyoncé's done "breaking the Internet" and slowly turning back to the usual channels as she revealed 17 new music videos for each track on her last Friday-released surprise fifth self-titled studio album, but the singer has now decided to release the visual for "Drunk In Love" with husband Jay-Z, which will act as the first official single from the new project. In the VEVO premiere, Beyoncé laid out on the beach with with her husband in the steamy, black-and-white clip directed by Hype Williams. The superstar couple shows how madly in love they are as Jay-Z sips D'Usse and Beyoncé rocks his chain.
Produced by Boots and Timbaland, the hip-hop/R&B-infused "Drunk in Love," one of the more overtly sexual tracks on the album, finds Beyoncé singing about making love while intoxicated over producer Noel "Detail" Fisher's shimmering synths and skittering drums. Jay-Z takes things further rapping about "foreplay in the foyer" as well as a rhyme comparing Beyoncé's breasts to breakfast. Truthfully, the hypnotic tune almost becomes an afterthought because of the seductive songstress. "Drunk in Love" is described having a riot of warm, hazy synths and chunky trap beats, which lyrically dispenses of any subtlety that some of the other tracks possess as an explicit ode to love-making.
The first video is actually one of the album's simplest, mostly consisting of a sparkling Beyoncé dancing around on the beach with a different sort of jubilant, before being joined by her world-conquering husband. It's not the album's peak, musically or visually, but unconstrained by heavy choreography - Beyoncé seems to mostly freestyle - it legitimately looks like they're having fun. "We shot in Miami last summer," said Beyoncé during her iTunes Rhythmic Radio session. "The shoot was extremely effortless and spontaneous and we completely captured the energy of the song."
The two lovahs take a late night stroll along the sand with the waves crashing onto the shore. While getting soaking wet in the water, we see a bikini-clad Beyoncé sensually moving her body to the smooth beat on the sand. Husband Jay-Z comes in to rap his verse in the bridge, holding but not sipping a glass of white wine. Beyoncé will then caress her man and sing softly in his ear. They went from "Crazy in Love" to "Drunk in Love." The sound is a perfect backdrop for Beyoncé and Jay-Z to make sweet, sweet music together! Watch the Carters sizzle in the sand in the intoxicating visuals.

Jay-Z raps about pitfalls of fame in "Holy Grail"

Jay-Z continues his dive head first into high-culture performance with a music video for the Nirvana-sampled track "Holy Grail", the first single, featuring Justin Timberlake crooning the silky-smooth hook, from hip hop artist Jay-Z's latest  twelfth studio album, "Magna Carta... Holy Grail." The pair just finished their joint stadium tour "Legends of the Summer" earlier this month, so the premiere of the "Holy Grail" visual comes in appropriate time. In a surprising move, Beyoncé's husband decided to unveil the song's music video first via his Facebook page, rather than the money-making platform of VEVO.
The build-up to this release was nothing short of perfection. The smooth and mellifluous "Holy Grail," album's surprisingly moody opener, featuring the sickest lyric laydown the 20/20 Experience man has perhaps ever done. Initially premiered by Funkmaster Flex tonight on Hot 97, the song features a powerful hook from Timberlake which was co-written by The-Dream and a pulsating beat from Timberlake which switches up several times. Midway through the song, Jay-Z and Timberlake interpolate lyrically sampled rock group Nirvana's 1991 hit single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Courtney Love has said in an interview that she gave permission to use the lyrics earlier this year. In exchange, Jay-Z allowed Courtney to cover "99 Problems" for her performance at the Sundance Film Festival. The Holy Grail was the cup or chalice rationally used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, which was the subject of much medieval legend and romance. As Jay-Z mulls over the pitfalls of fame and introduces a time capsule - lyrics from Kurt Cobain's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - "We are all just, Entertainers , I feel stupid and contagious," Jay-Z also raps while Timberlake cycles through every tortured artist cliché short of a crucifixion metaphor.
Director Anthony Mandler chops up the song to tell a cautionary tale of what happens when it all falls down. While they may appear to have everything, we see that their life is not as glamorous as it seems. Behind the bright lights and lavish lifestyle hides the dark side of fame. The rapper and the singer mostly stand (or sit) around and rap and sing in the dark interiors of a giant mansion; there are slick camera movements, expressive lighting and shadows, candelabras, and an upside-down car in flames. Modern dancers draped in billowing sheets up the artsiness quotient, as does the enormous room that is empty save for a single painting on the wall.

Justin Timberlake is well-dressed in "Suit & Tie"

Justin Timberlake is all dressed up and took to his Twitter page on Valentine's Day to announce the online premiere of the super sexy and slinky music video for his Jay-Z-featured comeback track, "Suit & Tie," his first single in six years after taking time out to focus on his movie career. This R&B throwback features a guest verse from Jay-Z, and the bass-heavy production stylings of Timbaland, is set to appear on Timberlake's upcoming long-awaited new record, "The 20/20 Experience," due out March 19.
The horn-tinged track "Suit & Tie," is a mid-tempo R&B song and a sleek dance number, finds singer singing about his love for being well-dressed. It begins with a slow-drawl intro consisting of slowed down synths and slightly out of time drum claps. The song then goes into a hypnotic, engaging outro before a great, cold ending. Lyrically, the song is an ode to the joys of being handsome and well-dressed.
According to the 32-year-old Timberlake: "The inspiration for this really came out of the blue and to be honest, I didn't expect anything out of it. I just went into the studio and started playing around with some sounds and songs. It was probably the best time I've had in my career... Just creating with no rules and/or end goal in mind and really enjoying the process."
The black and white clip appears very grandiose with its vintage look and elaborate set design, helmed by famed director David Fincher, finds Timberlake get down in stylish and totally channels his best the Pack's president Sinatra impression in a Tom Ford tuxedo and bow tie, where he performs with a full band and back-up dancers in a concert hall, similar to what he brought to his Grammy performance on Sunday. Then, when Jay-Z joins him for his rap verse in the song, they move to a swanky night club set complete with sexy backup dancers.

Jay-Z + Kanye West | "No Church In The Wild"

Jay-Z and Kanye West released the video late Wednesday night for "No Church in the Wild," an Illuminati-referencing highlight from the record, depicts a grim clash between a large number of protesters and heavily armed and violent riot police. The track is the third from their 2011 super-collaboration "Watch the Throne." However, it doesn't involve an appearance from either rapper, or even guest crooner Frank Ocean, but deliver a powerful clip all the same with the powerful message they were trying to send.
"No Church in the Wild" is a hip-hop song with R&B vocals in its chorus and bridge. It features a bass-heavy beat with guitar riffs, synthesizers, and drums. The song begins with Ocean's chorus followed by a Jay-Z verse about various topics including philosophy, religion, and braggadocio. The chorus then repeats and The-Dream performs a bridge, preceding West's verse, which includes themes of hedonism, celebrity, and religion. An instrumental which reoccurs through "Watch the Throne" plays, ending the song.
Features a cinematic production style, the Romain Gavras-directed clip centers on a battle taking place in the streets of Prague. The dark violent war starts when a masked citizen throws a blazing Molotov cocktail towards the lined-up officials in riot gear and a fight ensues. A sea of men then rush towards the police, caring little about their own unprotected faces and raging into war. By the end of the five-minute video, the freedom fighters seem to have notched a victory of some sort, standing in triumph in the face of their oppressors.
Set to the buzzing drums of the 88-Keys and Yeezy-produced track, ill-equipped freedom fighters with nothing to lose wage war against an oppressive regime. Of course, there is nothing in the video that directly details a specific storyline or plot: Instead, viewers are expected to rely on their own interpretations of the scenes that look taken straight from CNN. Fearless protestors hurl stones and fight armed officers using only their bare fists. "Power concedes nothing without a demand." If a quote could sum up the Throne's "No Church in the Wild" clip, Frederick Douglass' famed call for revolution might do it best.

Jay-Z And Kanye West Debut "Niggas In Paris"

Jay-Z and Kanye West performing together again for their mind-blowing show in a newly-released video for their hit “Niggas In Paris,” the third track from their collaboration album "Watch The Throne," in which everything the superstar duo rap about is what they actually go through. Followed the release of "Otis" last year, this part live clip, part kaleidoscopic freakout, the "Paris" video more than matches the song's massive impact.
West steals the show on the Hit-Boy produced club anthem, which incorporates staccato orchestration, fizzing industrial noise, a sampling of dialogue from the Will Ferrell/Jon Heder ice-skating comedy film "Blades of Glory." The dynamic rap duo breathed new life into their inescapable hit, and their lyrics frame their rags to riches story on the song. In an interview, West revealed that the song was inspired by his travels in Paris. Both rappers come in hard over a slow, menacing beat and icy synthesizer notes.
The dark, apocalyptic clip, directed by West himself, is taken from a run of live shows at Los Angeles' Staples Center with shots of the pair performing mixed with crowd footage, giving fans who couldn't score tickets to the sold-out 'Watch the Throne Tour' the chance to experience what it was like - if they had been on psychedelic drugs at the time. Appropriately, the video opens with a warning that its special effects could lead to epileptic seizures. The two rap icons merge and are pulled apart in a kaleidoscope of quick cuts.
Given the size and scope of both the song and the artists performing it, the "Paris" video, spliced with some dynamic imagery and even a slightly reworked beat, is also largely compromised and loaded with lasers, prowling panthers, pop-up-book cityscapes and the aforementioned models. Shoot, even producer Hit-Boy makes a one-second cameo. It's a head-spinning, pulse-quickening mixture of imagery and movement, of sight and sound - an experience unlike any other live clip. If you caught the Throne tour, the "Paris" video is sure to inspire heady flashbacks.

Kanye West & Jay-Z Pay Tribute For "Otis"

Without further ado, Kanye West and Jay-Z share their brand new video for "Otis," the first official leak off the duo's joint highly-anticipated project "Watch the Throne" is now available on iTunes. The mid-tempo hip-hop song pays tribute to the soulful legend utilizing cuts from Otis Redding's classic 1966 tune, "Try a Little Tenderness." The soulful tune, which features the dynamic hip-hop duo spitting 'luxury raps,' is officially the hottest rap song of the summer.
Both rappers trade off verses and never pause for a chorus. The iconic duo are probably the only two who could afford to clear the sample and this is just the kind of track needed to really crank up the anticipation for their collaborative LP. The track begins with the sample of classic tune as we hear the late soul crooner wail, "It makes it easier to bare, you won't regret it." Then comes in the tickling piano, a flourishing bass line and a thunderous beat produced by West. The back-and-forth banter between the rap kings is endearing, and they offer plenty of fantastic one-liners too. Overall, "Otis" is a triumphant song that will garner repeat listens just for the one-liners alone.
The Spike-Jonze directed video, which just debuted on MTV, is an on-screen bromance, complete with a souped-up Maybach, fireworks, and a guest appearance by Aziz Ansari. It eschews the narrative spazzouts and stoner-boggling tricks of previous Jonze video, preferring instead to luxuriate in the icon status of its two principals. We get fireworks, fist bumps, a fast car, and general larger-than-life camaraderie rather than, say, guys on fire running in slow-motion. It's like "The Expendables," if that movie only starred two guys, and both of them were rappers who didn't do any onscreen fighting.
The video begins in crisp colors with the duo torching a Maybach in a large, empty warehouse yard. They tear that car apart and create some sort of makeshift convertible, which they then drive around the lot aimlessly in circles, with four young girls riding high in the back. The video has a real light, soft quality to it. West and Jay-Z amble around almost in slow-motion, talking down to the camera all giddy-like. It climaxes with the duo laughing maniacally as sparks shoot up all around them. It makes you think, as Jonze always does, this is what a music video should be.

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys "Empire State Of Mind" Video

Mogul-rapper Jay-Z and Alicia Keys have officially premiered a inspirational music video on YouTube channel for their new collaboration and much talked about New York City anthem, "Empire State of Mind," which was released as the third single from the rapper's latest #1 album "The Blueprint 3", and features guest vocals from vocalist and songwriter Keys. The song is an anthemic ode to Jay-Z's and Keys's native New York City, featuring sampling of "Love on a Two-Way Street" by The Moments. It also contains elements of electropop and orchestra pop. The song was first showcased live on-stage during the 26th annual 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, and also the duo stole the show during Game 2 of the 2009 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
In the midst of what could be the most detrimental Hip-Hop beef in his career, Jay-Z makes another powerhouse move. The highly anticipated clip for the hit record "Empire State of Mind" was directed by Hype Williams, filmed on October 1 in Harlem, Times Square and around Ground Zero of the Big Apple, and is artfully produced in black and white. The clip features both artists at their best and the imagery and cinematography is just as amazing as a result of Hype Williams direction. Not only highlights the majestic boroughs and surroundings of NYC for folks to visualize, but brings forth somewhat of a revitalization of the Empire state.
The joint track was produced by Shux and co-produced by Janet "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic & Angela Hunte. The record features the dynamic vocals of R&B-soul songstress Keys, complimented with some choice words on life perspectives from Jay-Z himself. Some of his best collaborative work to date with vocalists. It's the city's image personified by Jay-Z's words, which manage to tap the core of those still wearing Timbs because, deep down, everyone wants to reach the level of opulence that he has. Jay-Z continues to redefine himself as the #1 Hip-Hop artist time and again, he just beat us there & seemingly left us behind. Yet, he reminds that he's still connected to the city that never sleeps by going back and describing the life that lives there day and night.

Jay-Z Slams 9/11 Benefit Concert In NYC

September the 11th, 2009 will go down in history as the date of one of the most legendary hip-hop shows of all time. It's Hova's homecoming: Brooklyn born rapper Jay-Z's "Blueprint 3" is available everywhere today (it was hustled out Tuesday, but lagged on some outlets), and tonight Jay-Z will be giving a "Answer The Call" memorial benefit concert at Madison Square Garden, for New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund, streamed and uninterrupted on music cable channel Fuse at 9p.m. live from NYC. All 20,000 tickets sold out within a matter of minutes on Tuesday morning.
In a way, Jay-Z's music will always be connected to 9/11, as the first original Blueprint album was released on the exact date as the tragedy, therefore it seems quite fitting that he will be performing for the cause. Jay-Z said "I'm just humbled by the experience," exactly what he will perform at the event is currently unknown, but he will perform some classics and some tracks from his latest album "The Blueprint 3".
Jay-Z’s 9/11 benefit concert turns into all-star marathon with his wife Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna, John Mayer, Diddy and Mary J Blige came together tonight to pay tribute to fallen police and firefighters of 9/11. Supported by a 10-piece band, the rapper brought a distinct energy to the show, and made a point to acknowledge the tragedy they were benefiting throughout the night. His performance embraced the spirit of New York.