Much like Britney Spears’ latest incarnation, Apocalypto Brit, Beyonce has decided to show us HER vision of the end of days in her new video, “Run the World (Girls)”. We had the audio of the song about a month ago here – most of us didn’t like it. Now that I’m listening to is again, I don’t really think it sounds so Willow Smith-esque, like I did before. As for the video… well, first you need to watch it:
The video honestly makes the song a little bit better. You know what this reminded me of? A place I’ve never been, but I would imagine that this is what it’s (kind of) like: Somalia. A violent hellscape where everything feels like the apocalypse, and everything is covered in dust and tragedy. Except that there are few blondes. Seriously, I mistook Beyonce for a white woman for a full minute. I was all “I wonder where Bey is?” The blonde hair isn’t the only thing that makes Bey look unrecognizable. I could swear that she’s been tweaked by a professional too. Probably to keep her looking in her “twenties” for another decade.
Let’s see… what do I like about the video? I like the dancing. Bey always has good choreography. The militaristic vibe reminded me of Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation stuff, because I’m an old fart and I can remember how much I loved that album when I was kid. I also like the apocalyptic styles, especially the gold outfit with the finger things. I thought that was cool! But then again, I’m an old fart, and I like shiny things.
What I didn’t like: all of the stuff that it made it seem like Beyonce’s apocalyptic vision of a female-led power-structure, where the women have attained their power through dressing like hookers and harem girls. “Gynocracy by harem” is not a valid political structure.
Screencaps from the video.
meh. Overlly done like all the other videos, i.e. Lady Gaga, Christina A, Britney S, Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj and now Beyonce
didnt care for it
Bad really bad song!
Too much photoshop for her body (During the first dance THIS IS NOT BEYONCE’S REAL BODY!). They cut hips…
Again, the police is “glamourized” and “sexualized” (Gaga…)!
Couldn’t she make some beautiful video where we didn’t see her bottom, thhight, sexy dance… but powerful woman ?
I prefer Jill scott or Adele!
NO BULLSHIT just a voice and an amazing song !
I liked it! Happy to have new pop music/video to bump for the summer. So over the Kesha/Gaga crap.
She looks great but the song is mind numbing..so I give it a meh and a half
Oh my god, this is such a rip-off of Major Lazer and Vybz Kartel’s Pon de floor. Same beat, same samples. She just added lyrics to it.
Listen to the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTI8Ec77RBE
Creativity is dead.
Crappy song, it started so…randomly it felt and the video is even more random.
Beyonce can’t horseride. That is all.
She actually comes off as channeling Tina Turner from Beyond Thunderdome [Mad Max] and there aint nothing wrong with that 😉
Actually a couple parts I did get the Tina vibe but without all the snarl and aggression Tina can actually exude.
Plus, flipping the finger doesn’t make you a bad ass Bey!
Yeah this trying to be sexy=power or liberty fad really needs to end. Its already been about 50 years now anyhow havent people figured it out yet? And that to me is not sexy; sexiness is somethign form within, not about who shows the most skin or dances the dirtiest or is the least classy. Its just my personal opinion but I dont think women are doing themselves any favors with that misthought at all.
And I mean even just looking at it from a trend or style view: its OLD. Its very very old, and extremely tired and over done.
Trying.Too.Hard.
Seriously, why can’t people(who fancy themselves artists) get back to the basics?
Take a page out of Sade and Adele’s book.
Also the lesser known/credited Alice Smith and Corinne Baiely Rae (I’m a die hard fan of all these REAL,EMPOWERED women mentioned)
I thought she looked like Mary J. Blige in a few of the scenes. Weird.
Don’t like the song, but it will be stuck in my head all day now.
She’s Goopy’s best friend. Pretty much shows how much of a phony she is.
all flash & no substance
I thought it was Rupaul when I first saw the pic, then I read the headlines.
Meh…not a fan – it’s like she is channeling a knocked-off version of Rythmn Nation/Slave 4 U * Gagaesque video. Trying to hard, me no likey
Absolutely terrible song. But I like the hyenas!
There is absolutely no way that’s Bey on the horse.
Huge applause to Kaiser for recognizing harem attire and garter belts are not a valid political statement or evidence of female empowerment.
If you still feel the need to put on sexy outfits and shake your booty down on all four in order to sell your music, then no… girls do not run the world.
Seriously? you are comparing this wack video to Somali? CB have you even seen Somalia? Ignorant statements like yours will get a bitch missing for days. Somalia was a Beautiful country and still is. Don’t put your 2 cents in where you have never actually saw. The crap you say most of the times makes you sound like a bitter bitch.
#9: I thought the same thing! But with a X-tina Aguilera moment (not myself tonight kind)…
#12: ditto!
Was she also trying to be a bit Rihanna good girl gone bad?
Neither video nor the song impressed me…
BAD – really BAD.
Bad music ,vedio filled with vulgarity for sales, maybe that ‘s the way it’s done nowadays the singing is terrible I wouldn’t buy the cd the song sounds terrible like a bunch of alley cats fighting.
She’s ripping off MIA. She doesn’t have an original thought in that bleached out brain.
She looks like a tranny. A scary mad tran.
Micheal Jackson wannabe,finger popping and all. Beyeonce have been copying from other performers for the longest while why doesn’t she find or get her own creative ideas, in this video she is definitely a Micheal Jackson copy cat. She doesn’t have the singing chops nor creative ideas like Madonna or Lady GaGa then exactly what is she doing in the music world, I guess she depends on her looks and shoeing her figure.
Is it strange that I think she looks like a strange tanned Uma Thurman in the last photo?!
Seriously that does not look like Beyonce
I don’t much like Beyonce and generally think she’s somewhat over hyped, but every time I see a music video of hers, with the dancing and trying so hard to add little flashes of innovation ripped off from other artists I am struck by the psychology of who she is, there’s this neediness, yet this careful manipulation, trying to live what she thinks is a good life and a part of me grudgingly respects her. Not many people achieve what she has, even if most of her message is garbled misunderstood ideas about feminism and capitalism.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! her in that horrible blonde wig is apocalyptic alone!
girls run the world as she walks 10 feet behind Jay-z, and he pimps her with this pathetic garbage.
I still can’t get over the lack of subject-verg agreement in this pitiful song. Please don’t rep Houston if you can’t string together a grammatically correct sentence, Bey. Some of us from Houston can actually speak English.
I don’t hate the video; the first dance routine was interesting. It can’t save the song, however. Next!
@Mouse #6- holy crap! It IS the exact song! I like Pon de Floor’s better.
Video is straight Mad Max. Total MEH for me.
What is she going to suggest as a feminist ‘power’ tool? Another shake and gyration of her vadge?
Honestly, some days I find it difficult to distinguish between the cheapness of GaGa and Beyonce.
Bad lyrics. Bad song.
Actually, a highly annoying song.
Perhaps the worst song she has ever brought out. And no amount of her thigh wobbling/pelvis gyrating/boob shaking is going to make it better.
The song isn’t very catchy. As a black woman I wish Beyonce would represent natural black beauty from time to time. All she does is this blonde look anymore. With no other blonde back up dancers-ever. Of any race. She definitely knows what it takes to be seen as Queen on earth. depressing. The message is sort of vaguely inspiring to me. But a better version of this video is also known as “California Love” by Tupac. Better Version no. 2 is “Dirty” by Christina Aguilera.
I totally agree mouse….
and this is where she got the inspiration for the video and dancing…
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DO1tufujnbzU
Wow, shooting the finger. How original. How edgy. Never been done before. Impressive.
Awful. It seems like people have already covered what a pathetic excuse for “feminism” this video tries to be. So, let me move on to something else that bothers me. Why does Beyonce always have to pose with chained animals? Does anyone remember the album artwork for Bday? She did the exact same pose she does here with the chained hyenas, but with alligators instead. If she’s going to cruelly a chain up a wild animal for her own amusement, she could at least be more creative about doing so.
This song remains terrible as well. It’s just pon de floor with some random crap about female empowerment thrown in on top. It’s almost as if she just wrote down a bunch of positive words, tossed them on the floor and then used whatever landed face up. It’s just feels like pointless pandering to her female fans.
The video was at least visually striking enough to get me through that horrendous song. But, still, nothing special or that doesn’t reek of “try hard”.
Agree with just about everyone;Interesting comments rraven – but I despise her for her cheapness, vulgarity, uncreativity all the while passing herself off as some cosmopolitan fashionista which she isn’t. At the 1:40 mark or so I thought it was Shakira and wasn’t she stealing her moves also. What fantasy world does this dim bulb live in that she thinks this is music or art. Does she even know how to sing an actual song anymore? Another reason I despise her dropping the f bomb and acting ghetto while she’s one of the richest most privileged individuals isn’t just a joke; it’s morally repulsive. SHe would never ever set foot in a real hood by herself.
Looks like someone has been taking cloging lessons.
Also, I hate when people leave the “s” off the end of the word! It’s who runS the world.
@detRiot girl ITA re the animals I noticed that too. It’s frikkin annoying don’t chain up a wild animal they do not wish to be your mascots. In paintings sometimes goddesses are led by wild animals and I think that is part of what she is going for. But lose the chains. It just makes you sad for the animal. I am totally not feeling this vid. Someone else mentioned the Gaga -copy of sexualizing the police. Copy that.
I already knew about the original version, and I kept waiting for one of her dancers to start dance-humping her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2nmgcVbfKE
Hate the song, the video was awful and the whole idea behind this was pathetic.
“I could swear that she’s been tweaked by a professional”
Totally agree. It’s the eyes, I think. She’s had crazy eyes for a while now, I guess she can’t really wink that much.
eh… anyone else think her head is superimposed onto a dancers body in the first dance scene ?(where she is irish dancing!)
Illuminati
Overproduced, unoriginal, annoying. Hated it.
As some of you have said above, everything seems to have been done before: dance moves taken from Michael or Janet Jackson, crawling on the floor like Shakira, blonde tresses like Shakira and so many others that just want to sell their “music” with their appearance and flashy visuals. Ah, but throw in the “feminist” angle and thats supposed to account for substance? Puh-leaze.
Go away Beyonce.
meh.
the only dance move i likes was during ‘raise a glass to the college grads’.
that ‘FUNKY-CHICKEN’ sh*t in the beginning was wack as hell!
her legs are so chunky for that kind of dancing.
the only time her legs looks right to me was with the knee-high boots.
i like seeing dancing with graceful dancer’s legs, not tree trunks.
jussayin. 🙁
The song is supposed to be inspirational but the message I got out of the visuals was:
1. Women ran the world into the ground.
2. Everything around us is crap but women are materialistic so we still look hot while everything around us has gone to pot.
3. There is no real message just a bunch of random visuals and dancing for the sake of Beyonce showing off and trying to achieve a certain look.
TERRIBLE! I couldn’t finish the video because the beat was a cacophonous disaster. And is it just me or does every Beyonce song seem to have “this is for my girls up in the club” line? The lack of originality is irritating.
Well, I did NOT confuse her with a white woman, a tranny with a busted wig YES, but not a white woman and it seems that everything else that I was going to say has already been said…she needs to go back to her DAD ASAP!
Video is pretty budget for Beyonce. Very lets make a dusty hot desert in a warehouse somewhere in L.A. The song is ok. Weird that she is using all black back up dancers yet she herself is trying to look white with the blond hair & light skin? Maybe she is just trying to stand out from others in the video?
She cosmetically slimmed sides of her nose and its good work- very natural looking.
I love the video, but I HATE the song. It’s probably one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard.
Some good career advice would be for this chick to go away for a good 3-5 years. Please, for the love of God, make me miss you!!
EPIC FAIL!!!!!!!
in all honesty everyone thought the video would help this song gain popularity because it failed to chart, this might just be the very thing to put it 6 ft under. Worse still it looks like she tried to bite gaga and rihanna’s techno/edgy style with the clothing.
No wonder her label is making her redo the album; she should’ve stuck with her father as her manager, Roc Nation is killing her career
anyone else think she looks a little like jlo with her facial close up shots in the desert?
The still photo says it all. Everyone is just ripping off Madonna.
I mean, where have I seen a dye blonde in a garter belt and undies gyrating around to the idea that female slut gear is actually empowering? Yawn.
Wake me when a real woman with NEW ideas actually comes along. Meanwhile, Adele is a throwback but far more authentic. Passin’ on Bey’s crapfest.
love the dance part hate everything else
i hate animals in videos
she looks like SHAKIRA all the time
yup… cuz women are never women.. we’re always girls
and girls can never be empowered unless we’re nearly naked.
also.. the best way to assert yourself against a mob of guys looking threatening is to bounce your boobs at them.
and then crawl between their legs.
yup.. totally empowering message here.
honestly i would have less of a problem with bey if she’d just stop claiming to be empowering. she’s just another overpaid pop tart. Eye candy.
and the bad grammar is also hurting my ears.
i much prefer Pink’s “Stupid Girls”
loooove that one! 😀
Your review is spot-on, Kaiser. The choreography and wardrobe were great, but I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes at the corset clad girls who run the world. Right, because in a post-apocalyptic world, the girls who gyrate best have all the power. Ugh.
What I don’t understand is the salute sign. If I am not mistaken you salute your superior. So in the end the women salute the men??????? Yes we run the world but we are at your service/disposal??? That is so empowering! What a great message to send to girls/women everywhere. Yes, we have come a long way!!!
Its so awful.I swear she seems obssessed with copying Shakira.Also saw shades of Jlo,Gaga and Michael jackson in the video.
i could say a million things about beyonce but im going to go with….I have a 10yr old daughter. B is a great example when im trying to point out a strong and powerful but always sexy smart and talented woman.she didnt marry money or have babies to get famous.she didnt sleep her way to the top,hasnt got naked or had a sex tape.you almost never hear negative press about her and she does it all in 5in heels!im an old fart too,her style is alittle bit much for me but shes done it allll on her own terms.And that in itself is awesome! girlpower!!!
Beyonce wasted her money making that video. Bad. The song sucks too.
I honestly thought when I first saw this story that Beyonce was a man in a wig. She certainly looks different in some way. Tweaked?
Jeez, that’s horrible, worst choreographer ever. I don’t know whether you can call this as a song. It’s ridiculous. Sorry, I can’t stand to listen or watch it more than 1 minute.
This is supposed to be a video depicting women’s empowerment? Why not depict the real women who rule the world, the doctors, teachers, single moms, bus drivers, lawyers, CEOs, media moguls, first ladies, senators, soldiers, and college grads who are making movements and strides and kicking down doors for women? Instead of depicting those true images of real women who run the world, she again resorts to depicting women in a light that she sees equates to power, writhing and gyrating in stilettos and garter belts in the sand. It’s tired, played out, and boring. Grow up, Beyonce! You have our ear. Tell us something new!
The first time I saw this video, I caught the end of it, and I thought it was Britney Spears! Why does she look so white? Her dancers are far superior to her. She is a distraction sometimes.
@Tara
THANK YOU! I got through the whole video like ‘okay this will make sense at some point or she’ll end the video in a really cool way’ …and then she SALUTES the men! UGH!Wow Bey…tried to give you credit there for a sec and you just made me lose it. How you gonna claim girls run the world (I see ONLY women in your video) have all the WOMEN dancing around in garters and skimpy corsets while the men are dressed in combat gear looking sensible while you all are dropping, grinding, and popping for them, ‘your’ world is a post apocalyptic mess which almost makes it seem like the men are right for trying to charge you at the beginning…and finally you end it with saluting them.
DIM BULB BEYONCE.
WHAT a hideous song!!!!!!!!!!!
Everybody go to Youtube. Theres a remix of this single produced by this guy name Fyuchur. Its Hot!!! Even her fans love it