But Where Did They Go? Unreleased Videos We Might Have Wanted to See

Nowadays there is a certain order to how things work with new music and visuals of our favorite artists. More or less it goes like this: Leak/iTunes release, leaked/promo images of video shoot, behind the scene video of the music video shoot, video is released, we watch our favorites over and over on YouTube. It’s a system, it works, it makes sense, it comforts us at night (okay, I’m being drastic now). Every so often our beloved musicians set us on this routine path only for us to end up with no finished product, no visual, and an unsatisfied appetite. I always wondered just what happened to those unreleased visuals, were they completely horrible forcing the artist to abandon the effort? Did they opt for a different single forcing the current one into eternal obscurity? Did they just want to get us all hot and bothered for nothing? And then I realize, no these artists simply just hate us. Here’s a few of the unsolved mysteries of the disappearing music videos.

1. “Put It In A Love Song”//Alicia Keys ft. Beyoncé

It was one of the most talked about collaborations of the year. Some loved the result of the song, others thought it was a mediocre effort from two artists of Alicia and Bey’s caliber, but everyone was excited to see the visuals for this one. Filmed in 2010 in Brazil, the video had several photos from the shoot showing the singers in colorful Brazilian fashion, dancing, and enjoying Carnival. For months, blogs updated viewers on the status of the video and there were even behind the scenes videos to build up anticipation for its release. Then…nothing. The Melina Matsoukas clip never saw the light of day and fans of both artists are still hoping they will one day see the visuals. Alicia recently explained that for some reason it never came together which is why she went on to her next single off her The Element of Freedom album.

2. “Fancy” // Drake ft. Swizz Beats & T.I.

Oh you fancy huh? Everyone was saying this line from the popular track off of Drake’s commercial debut Thank Me Later. The track was reported to getting the video treatment and then photos from the shoot confirmed that it would be a single for the Toronto rapper. Then, after a behind the scenes video the Anthony Mandler directed clip was canned. It seemed that Drake was dissappointed in the outcome of the shoot as well as the video shot for the track “Miss Me”.

I just watched the videos and was like, ‘What the fuck are these videos about?’ That’s why ‘Fancy’ never came out. It was a weird moment.”

3. “Roman in Moscow”// Nicki Minaj

The aggressive teaser track for Nicki Minaj’s sophomore effort was to receive a video treatment. Centered around her famed alter ego Roman, the video was to explain Roman as well as his mother Martha (another Nicki created character). Filmed by Hype Williams on December 18, 2011, the clip also never saw the light of day. It would have been interesting to see Nicki Minaj’s antics for the fiery track. Yet, here we are left wondering what could have been.

4. Jam (Turn It Up) // Kim Kardashian

This one would have just been hysterical. Reality television superstar Kim Kardashian shocked most of us with her short lived attempt to enter the music industry. With the auto tuned “Jam (Turn It Up)”, Kim was looking to show off her skills in the studio. Looking back on this, Kanye is surely to blame. After the release of the song, images surfaced revealing Kim shooting the sensual clip and of her hair cornrowed for the visuals. With only a teaser released, this Hype Williams directed video also couldn’t be enjoyed by all of us. According to Kim’s sister Kourtney, the video was only shot for Kim to see. It seemed there was never any intention of releasing it, but I have to feeling Kim just came to her senses before completely embarrassing herself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRg-tWXwXmI

Which unreleased videos were you anxious to see?

-Cj

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