#Revisit SKELEWU: THE VIDEO(S)

When the former Mo’ Hits impressarios, Don Jazzy and Dbanj, introduced the art form of the “viral entertainment  material” with ‘Oliver Twist’, little did they plan for it to blow into the mammoth monster that it has become; enter Davido, with ‘Skelewu’; his latest single, dance style, movement, and now music-video.

Hate him or love him, genius hit-maker or uncontrollable wild-child, Davido knows how to get us moving to his music, and ‘Skelewu’, the latest offering from his HKN label, is no different. Youtube is already inundated with myriad versions of user-created videos for the single, not to mention a supposed “official” video directed by star videographer Sesan, which the young star publicly rejected. Davido, thereafter, released a second official version.

Shot in the United Kingdom, and directed by the Mr Moe Musa , ‘Skelewu’ aims to be as entertaining physically as it is vocally. It plays on the “Skelewu fever” craze, taking a big cue from the critically acclaimed zombie movie ’28 Days Later’ and also from LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’, it portrays the converted “Skelewu” faithful as zombies loyal to the gospel according to Davido, in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world changed by “Skelewu”.

The visuals look good in HD, the costumes and choreography look well put together, and not much seems out of place prop-wise. From the opening scenes with the artiste waking out of a hospital to a “Skelewu” world, to the protrayal of the ‘Skelewu’ dance, though the ideas get a bit dodgy towards the final scene; all scenes and sequences seem of passable quality, flowing with deceiving ease, helping it earn good points all the way.

In truth, the concept isn’t particularly original, or new; yet, it may be understandable why Sesan’s version was rejected, because the concept for the second seems a bit better interpreted and better helmed together. The low-res version of Sesan’s leak may have taken points off an otherwise good video if it had been released in full HD, yet, Moe Musa’s take still manages to come out the winner, but only just manages to do it, as it does not beat its predecessor by too large a margin.

The song often plays into the video, and the video shines new light on the song; this time, both videos will combine hand in hand to further to help strengthen Davido’s music, though the same cannot be said for his brand and his handlers, as the furor with Sesan over the first video could have been better handled, even though, now, we may never know the truth concerning the rejection.