How Low Can You Go?

     Rap videos are some of my favorite inspiration to the same basic idea creatively redone over and over.  In this video, rapper Ludacris plays a "Bloody Mary" type of entity.  It is said that he appears in your mirror if you "drop it low" enough.  Three friends are excited to test out this theory, but they find that summoning Ludacris isn't all fun and games.

     The girls in this video definitely fit both roles of women in music videos.  The original three girls dancing in the bedroom "summon" Ludacris, but then immediately become frightened and completely negative towards the situation.  Meanwhile the other girls shown in the video are merely the dancing nobodies found in many rap videos.  These girls are perky, ready to party, and perfectly fit the descriptions that Ludacris describes them as he is rapping.  They all have gyrating, stripper like movements that are so prevalent of these "dream girls" we have learned about. 

"Cause I like that french vanilla, that caramel, but when it comes to Chocolate, I know that very well" - Ludacris

     So we have the dream girls gyrating, some other male figures assumed to be Ludacris's possy around to add some numbers.  What happens to the previous innocent girls?  They are changed into party girls themselves, and therefore become desirable objects like their ghostly counterparts.  Now they are free to grind, shake, and drop it low in the freedom of their own house with this newfound confidence.   They don the similar attire of the previous girls as well: skin tight spandex leggings in bright colors, and very revealing tops. 

     While all of this lovely metamorphosis is going on, we have random shots of Ludacris rapping under a blacklight.  This effect makes him look like he's in a very ambiguous, but obviously very fun environment that you probably wish you were in.  He is seen constantly rapping while beautiful dream girls are dancing around him and competing over who can drop it the lowest for him.  This sort of rivalry between the girls shows off another side of the dream girls, their competitive side where they compete over men.  Ludacris does not seem to mind, and probably is not complaining in the slightest.

     This kind of video feels very reminiscent to rap videos in the late 90's and early 00's in that it follows a very simple plot that involves women seeing just how low they can go.  While newer rap videos usually focus on the wealth of the rapper and his status among his community/crew, this video follows Ludacris's theme of southern style dirty rap that can be first seen by artists like 2 Live Crew.  Ludacris's modernization of a simple (and clever, I'll admit) idea of the Bloody Mary myth and turning it into a 4 minute long parade of girls just breaking loose, having fun, and gettin' low.