Travis Scott wanders through an extravagant mansion of what seems like the eerie aftermath of a rager in the video for his track, “Wake Up,” featuring the Weeknd. This collaboration was initially intended to be featured on the Weeknd’s 2018 EP, My Dear Melancholy, but it eventually appeared as a part of Travis Scott’s critically acclaimed album, Astroworld, in August 2018. The album debuted at #1 in the US and reached #3 in the UK, giving the rapper his first #1 hit with “Sicko Mode,” featuring Drake, Big Hawk, and Swae Lee.
When you look at the video of the track, “Wake Up,” it’s hard not to see it as a love child of A$AP Rocky’s technicolor acid trip “Kids Turned Out Fine,” and the mannequin challenge. While Scott is no stranger to over-the-top visuals, this music video gets the black and white cinematic effect courtesy of the director, Jonah Hill. So, what’s happening in the video? The viewers see the mansion littered with unconscious or perhaps dead bodies, sprawled out across the floor, dressed in suits and gowns. Along the way, a helicopter crashes in the bushes without making a sound. However, it’s difficult to fathom how it syncs with the lyrics and visuals as The Weeknd sings “Say, pussy so good/ Oh, pussy so sweet,” and Travis hitting the pool table before he gets on his way. The already-perplexing scene gets really weird when gravity loses its effect, and the rapper himself floats through the air, while the walls catch on fire and the bodies turn into dust. The scene ends with frightening images of a completely slack Scott. It serves a healthy dose of supernatural vibes as Travis gets held up by a floating blob of water above the pool.
Unfortunately, people are more psyched about Jonah Hill directing this video than the actual final product. Well, I would have preferred the latter. This shows that nothing else is really going for Travis on this lowkey song besides the “cool” looking music video with flashy objects. It’s hard not to proclaim that this video is a cinematography masterpiece, and the actor-turned-filmmaker, Jonah Hill, has proved himself as a director worth looking out for. His willingness to push limits with experimentation is what made him stand out in this new role. The composition of the shots is visually stunning in every single frame. The Los Angeles based post-production house, Scissor Films, is garnering a whole lot of praise for the fantabulous use of VFX in the video. The viewers get to see the furniture turned on its head, upside down, statues crumbling, and liquid floating up and out of glasses shaped like snakes. The video is literally a visual treat with the meticulous application of VFX in the required scenes. Check out some of the YouTube comments rooting for Jonah Hill as director.
@gimmedachikennuggies
Jonah hill directed this masterpiece and mid 90’s… hes a tru go
@mek
he killed this video tbh
@John Cole
It’s literally written on the wall in the opening shot..
Well, if you dig deep into the lyrics, it is actually a love song, more of a provocative one. Strangely, the song’s lyrics are all about sex. Although it sounds like a superficial connotation for a love song, one could tell that both the singers are serious about their women as they express their emotional dependency on their partners. Both Scott and Tesfaye are singing that they don’t want to wake up, insinuating they would rather stay in bed and seek pleasure in the company of their loved ones. Abel Tesfaye, Adam King Feeney, Jacques Webster, Mike Dean, Sevn Thomas, and Wallis Lane provided the lyrics for the song.
I don’t wanna wake up
I want you spread out on the sheets
Said her pussy so good
And her pussy so sweet
I don’t wanna wake up
I want it flowing through my streams
Getting me hot
Under my feet
I don’t wanna wake up
Please don’t wake me up, I feel it creeping (yeah)
Controlling how you moving, lucid dreaming (dreams)
Always on the side of different seasons, yeah, yeah
Took the belt-way down to your hood
Say you was in the crowd, I never looked
Looking back how things came back around
Guess I was hooked
Burn the bread and then we burn the town
We both was cooked, yeah
Nah, nah, please don’t wake me up, feel like I’m dreamin’
Any given Sunday, you can get it, Willie Beamon
I can make your Mondays even better like the weekend
That’s my Coco, I’m her Ice-T (Coco, yeah, yeah)
Bend her over for some piping (it’s lit!)
Bust a cloud, shoot the lightning (pop it)
Pop it now, no, we can’t sleep
There is no shying away from the fact that “Wake Up” got an equally big-budget treatment like some other Astroworld songs. But it suffices to say that every penny spent was worth it. So, what do you think of this video? Did Scott go on a killing spree, murdering all the party guests? Or did the plague hit the mansion, and Travis is the only man left alive? Are they all dead or just pretending to be dead? Well, who knows what was going through their minds while creating it. But it sure as hell is a great video! Become one of the yChnkXhauwM viewers by clicking here. Also, make sure to check out the VFX breakdown for “Wake Up” here.