Words by C. Paicely

Reminiscent of an old rock documentary, the video for “Erase Me” starts with Cudi and Superbad’s Christopher Mintz-Plass doing English accents and hitting on a pretty young journalist with some comically terrible pick-up lines. They got all old schooled-up for the video, with Cudi wearing a Hendrix-esque bandana over Shirley Temple locks. Beyond the grainy texture of the video and over-the-top wardrobe, director Jason Goldwatch pulled off a nice juxtaposition, inserting black and white shots of the guys goofing around sans their ridiculous retro get-ups. Goldwatch also gets props for replacing Jack Daniel’s with his own name on those whiskey bottles.

Now let’s talk about Mr. West. Silly of me to think Kanye would diverge from his recent Mr. T jewelry selection and “Power” crown. The gold chains actually kind of fit the theme of the video, but the crown, not so much. Besides, wouldn’t it have been more entertaining to see Ye spitting out his lines in a Jackson 5ive afro wig? Regardless, he drops a decent verse and caps it with a punch line that allows him to say “diarrhea.” Surprisingly, no sign of Wale in the background.