Straight to the Bank
50 CENT
www.vibe.com
How serious are all these people about “cleaning up” hip-hop? 50 Cent’s new single starts with a hail of gunfire, rolls through a homophobic slur and one of the words hip-hop leader Russell Simmons is trying to get removed from the airwaves — all followed by a chorus of laughing, presumably straight to the bank.
Umbrella
RIHANNA
defjam.com
CoverGirl spokeswoman Rihanna’s new video probably cost so much that the budget for the stylists alone would rival the cost of most major label artists’ videos. Jay-Z, who introduces this tony fashion commercial with a forgettable rap, knows something about big budgets himself. Rihanna, the “good girl gone bad,” does a silver update on Bond girl Shirley Eaton’s golden birthday suit in “Goldfinger.”
Life in the Backseat
THE ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE
myspace.com/electricsoftparade
The Brighton mob finally hits the U.S. “Backseat” brings to mind all those misty-eyed Scottish Burt Bacharach wannabes in the ’80s, or Prefab Sprout at its most winsome and wistful.
