Travel back in time with Elijah Blake!
The singer-songwriter has delivered the anticipated music video for his retro-inspired jam “Technicolor,” off his acclaimed new album Audiology.
Blake tributes a slew of iconic visuals from the ’80s including Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation,” Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step” and Prince’s “When Doves Cry.”
The video opens in a dark underground studio, Elijah turns on the light and grabs a denim jacket hanging on a coat stand just as Janet does in her “Pleasure Principle” video. Recreating Jackson’s classic visual, Blake dons a black statement shirt as well that reads, “a black shirt by clara martin” and begins to unleash his choreography to the nostalgic uptempo tune.
As the song hits the pre-chorus, the clip cuts to black and white and finds Blake and a phalanx of dancers clad in military-style uniforms — he also wears the hoop earring with a key as Janet did — as they pay tribute to Janet’s innovative “Rhythm Nation” visual.
The “Stingy” crooner recruited Beyonce’s choreographer Chris Grant – whom he’s known since high school — to recreate the choreography for all the classic dance visuals including New Edition’s “If It Isn’t Love,” MC Hammer’s “You Can’t Touch This,” and Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel,” a process Grant says only took 2 weeks to put together.
“It was so important for me to pay homage to these icons in this day and age because first and foremost, even though I’m a ’90s baby, these videos and legends are who inspired me to even want to do music,” Blake explains. “Secondly, the art of dance being a major component in videos is almost like a lost art sadly. I don’t know if it’s because everyone is too cool to dance or if it’s just too expensive, but I really wanted to tap into that magic and reintroduce it to my generation and this culture.”
