Manny King John
After nearly a year since the release of the album, ‘Love In the Future’, John Legend released his fourth music video for the song ‘You & I (Nobody In the World)’. This is personally one of my favourite tracks off the album. However, before watching this video, I strongly advise that you grab a couple of Kleenex® because it is a real tearjerker. The video consists of different women with different scenarios who seem to be using the camera as some sort of mirror reflection.
The message to the song is similar to Christina Aguilera’s ‘Beautiful’, saying that no matter how you look or how you act, you are beautiful just the way you are. Nothing beats natural beauty. Although the messages in the songs are similar, the videos present two different scenarios.
A few celebrities were also spotted in the video. Their names include Tatiana Ali, Tig Notaro, Laverne Cox and of course, John legend’s wife, Chrissy Teigen. Each celebratory had minor adjustments to fix them; from make-up to hair due, or as simple as putting a jewellery piece, making the featured guests the real stars of the video. What really amazes me about the video is the fact that what most people would see as flaws in their bodies, these ladies embraced it and used it as strength. The first woman to jump out causing me to rewind my video was the lady with just one breast. As confident as most people are, it takes more than just courage to show the whole world all of you.
Not all situations were as apparent as the lady with one breast. The second clip that jumped out at me, was towards the end when one lady took off her wig. That clip reminded me of a time when my own girlfriend was on chemotherapy and lost all her hair, so she started wearing wigs. I remember when my partner took me in private just to show me how she looked with a bald head and at that moment was when I realized I was in Love. She looked just as beautiful bald as with hair. I actually wanted her to embrace the bald look more, which she did. After serving cancer, she doesn’t even want to grow her hair out anymore; she now wears it in a shortcut.
This video is an absolute classic: Five stars. John Legend and the director both clearly had the vision to make that beautiful song come to life. But of course, John Legend only knows how to make GOOD music. The last four videos for his album have all been masterpieces, a pure art, and make you wonder when or what John Legend has next in-store.
Words by David Femi Oladimeji (Intern)
