If anyone had an amazing 2015, it was James Wright Chanel. James’ viral video reviewing Patti Labelle’s Sweet Potato Pie from Walmart garnered more national attention than Patti did on her own. Regardless of what Patti said about his influence on her sales, she couldn’t deny his impact, eventually extending the olive branch by inviting James to her house for the holidays and sharing a segment with him on her cooking show.
James, smartly striking while the iron is hot, ended his best year ever with the music video for his new song “Sometimes Love.” The clips starts with an unnecessarily long two-minute intro featuring a couple in a troubled relationship. The director could have easily merged the storytelling frames with the performance shots of James to tell the same story more effectively. Instead, we are left with a final edit that reeks of amateurish videography. When we are finally able to hear James sing, it’s equally as disappointing. Not because he lacks talent; remember, this is the same man who held his own with Patti LaBelle. Unfortunately, there is too much Auto-Tune unnecessarily applied to his voice that distracts more than it enhances.
As for the video, the lead actress decides to leave her cheating boyfriend and in an unexpected turn of events that rivals the dramatics of a Tyler Perry movie, she appears to contemplate suicide even after packing her bags to leave. More overwhelming is the question, why would she wear those awful gold lamé pants on what might be the last day of her life?
Pettiness aside, the video leaves us wanting better for James. This man’s voice and personality can and should take him far. But unlike his meteoric rise to fame, this video lagged. We will gladly trade the minutes we lost watching it for another slice of Patti’s pie, though!
