"Rest in peace to the king," Jay-Z quickly added after performing his new single, "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," at the BET Awards last night. In a way, though, Jay's real tribute to the late Michael Jackson didn't happen until later that evening, just after the awards broadcast ended, when BET debuted the same song's video. A celeb-studded short film shot to promote a new tune, its premiere a prime-time event — tell me that's not a classic Michael move.
And that's not all. Subtle evidence of Michael Jackson's inestimable influence crops up all through the "D.O.A." video. Jay blows stuff up…just like the extended "Black or White"! Jay plays ball with LeBron James…just like "Jam"! Jay plays poker with Harvey Keitel in a back room…sorta like "You Rock My World," kind of! Jay gets a haircut…just like…okay, maybe I'm stretching here. Check out the "D.O.A." video below (some NSFW language) and decide for yourself: How do you like Jay-Z's latest video? And could a hyped-up video debut like this have ever happened in a world that never got to see Michael Jackson?
More from EW's Music Mix:
Michael Jackson's musical legacy: Tell us how you remember him
The 2009 BET Awards: We live-blogged it!
Pink sings for Spongebob's tenth birthday: We've got scurvy!
I dunno about a lot of the comparisons, but while we’re having fun…Jay’s rapping in a setting similar to what MJ used in “Jam” (or I could be way off, of course).
The similarities u cite are a HHUUUGGGGE stretch. The vid is boring.
I thought j wants 2 appeal? HE is able 2 play card w Harvey Keitel bc he is a millionaire, but we cant.
the video is simple (maybe boring even), but it makes sense with what he is saying about eliminating the superficiality of hip-hop. see my review plus more here:
http://www.downstairsthreads.com/downstairs-threads-press-play.html