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Portishead Gets Animated In “The Rip” Video

After the grainy, low-fi performance video for their comeback single “Machine Gun,” we had been hoping that Portishead would choose a more striking visual for the follow up. So on the second video from their latest album Third, the Bristol-based trio turned to indie-director Nick Uff to bring “The Rip” to life. The hazy, hypnotic animation was all hand-drawn and recorded on 16mm film, lending a raw feel to the scenes that are half dream and half nightmare. Watch things get warped out after the jump.

Popularity: 85% [?]

Gnarls Barkley Keeps “Going On” With New Video

After their trippy dance party video for “Run” got banned for not passing the Harding seizure test, Gnarls Barkley’s new album The Odd Couple didn’t get as much commercial shine as it should have. So it’s probably good that the video for their new single “Going On” keeps the mind-bending psychedelic visuals to a minimum. The story follows a group of kids celebrating on their way to a mystical door that leads to another dimension. What lies beyond the door is an unknown unknown, but we’re guessing it’ll probably give you seizures too. Watch the video after the jump.

Popularity: 85% [?]

The Roots’ Rising Down Picks Us Up

It was a rainy night during the first week of February when ?uestlove from The Roots spoke with Complex about the band’s eigth studio album, Rising Down. That same evening, he granted Complex access to Battery Studios to get the full scope of the dark and stormy album, which finally hit stores today. ?uest had this to say about the crew’s evolution:

Between the last album and this album, I think the one thing I take for granted that I have to keep reminding myself [of] is that not everyone’s an engineer. In the beginning, we were on a mission to prove to people we can be boom-bappy. We lost ourselves in terms of us wanting to prove, ‘Ahh, see, you think that’s a drum machine right there don’t you? Nah, nigga that’s me!” So now the pendulum is swinging on the other side and we want people to know that this is us. That was the main mission of the Game Theory album. It just continues with this [album]. You truly know that it’s a band.

After the jump, watch all 4 Rik Cordero-directed music videos from Rising Down.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Mickey Factz & The Cool Kids Rock It

Lately, independent Bronx rapper Mickey Factz has been doing an excellent job of positioning himself amongst hip-hop’s new breed of MCs. In his new video for “Rockin N Rollin,” Mickey shows his chemistry with some other key players in hip-hop’s 2008 class, The Cool Kids . In their first video together, Mickey, Mikey Rocks and Chuck English keep it simple with a black and white clip featuring cameos from their fashion-minded comrades: Kidz In The Hall, Plain Pat, Kid Cudi and New York’s multitasking party girl Vashti Kola. The Guggenheim, bitches! Watch it after the jump.

Popularity: 85% [?]

The Real Brainstorms More Failed Ideas

KOCH’s new marketing campaign for Cam’ron.

The Real has a lot of bad (yet hilarious) ideas. Surprisingly, one of their recent ones—convincing DJ Drama to let them host a Gangsta Grillz mixtape—might not be that far off. According to a message on their Facebook profile, Drama saw their proposition video and thought it was “hilarious.”

While the world waits for this mother of all collaborations (sorry G-Unit x Gangsta Grillz), watch a new video after the jump that exposes some of The Real’s other ideas that didn’t get such a good response, including pro-New York rap protests and the new “Soulja Boyz II Men” mash-up.

Popularity: 84% [?]

How Did Rick Ross Become Number 1?

Joe Budden said it best on 2003’s “Fire”, “Fuck Sound Scan, I ain’t buying that, cause y’all sell ‘em to the stores then buy ‘em back.” After Rick Ross‘ debuted at #1 last week, outselling Snoop Dogg and Fat Joe, rap fans gossiped in disbelief, wondering who really bought all those units. Now, The Real addresses the situation with a funny infomercial for Def Jam’s marketing department. Watch the “incredible video one time video limited package video offer video” after the jump.

Popularity: 87% [?]

An Ode To Kicks From Sneaker Stans

Hip-hop and sneaker nostlagia go hand in hand. We guess that’s why this video from indie-rap group BullyMouth just doesn’t get old. But with all the help they’re getting from Company Flow’s Mr. Len (who directed the video), they could learn to face the camera rather than letting the mannequins, and moving sneakers hog the spotlight. See for yourself after the jump…

Popularity: 86% [?]

Anime Britney > Real Britney

Speaking frankly, we could give two shits about all the drama surrounding Ms. Spears lately. But thank God she finally did something right with the video for “Break The Ice,” the Danja-produced third single off her ill-fated Blackout album.

Rather than subjecting us to another 3 minutes of bloated insecurity, the pop princess recruited British director Robert Hales (the man behind Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” ink-spot video) to create some Japanese-style animation. The result—created by a studio in South Korea—shows Brit as a superhero navigating the seedy big-city underworld. She’s no Aeon Flux, but we’ll take this Britney over the real thing any day. Watch the full video after the jump…

Popularity: 87% [?]

Mavado’s New Video

With a new song featuring Jay-Z burning up radio, the dancehall superstar doubles up this week releasing “Last Night,” the latest video from “Gangsta For Life: Mavado The Symphony of David Brooks.”

Go behind the scenes of the video shoot here.

Popularity: 88% [?]

Hot Chip’s Lead Singer Becomes the Joker

John Mayer isn’t the only celebrity with a taste for the theatrical. Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor dons the Joker’s signature green hair and white makeup in the colorful video for “Ready For The Floor” from their third LP, “Made In The Dark.” Fever for “The Dark Knight” can only get worse from here on out.

Popularity: 81% [?]