Gus Dapperton Puts on a Fresh New Pair of Dancing Shoes in “World Class Cinema”
Artwork by Em Spooner
by Mica Kendall
Describing his latest single as “a blank canvas” with no definite meaning in order to allow his fans to develop their own interpretation of the song, Gus Dapperton’s latest single, “World Class Cinema,” is nothing less than another genuine authentic Dapperton bop.
Before embarking on his current US tour and later Europe tour for 2019, Dapperton dropped a music video for “World Class Cinema” directed by none other than Matthew Dillon Cohen. Since the release of Gus’s first music video in 2016 for “Moodna, Once With Grace,” Cohen has worked alongside Dapperton in producing all of his music videos including “Prune, You Talk Funny”, “I’m Just Snacking”, to now “World Class Cinema.” A notable trademark that has become categorized with Dapperton’s reputation as an artist is how visually appealing and correlative his music videos have been with his music.
The consistency of working exclusively with Cohen in all his music videos gives Gus’s videos the same aesthetic artistic appeal with a major emphasis on a vibrant primary color palette. Cohen’s videography primarily consists of cameras panning in conjunction with Gus’s dance moves and telling a narrative behind every video. When asked about his music videos Dapperton admits to placing major emphasis on his video production visuals over his music, wanting to make the videos have a strong sense of potency with his fans. Dapperton has most certainly accomplished success in his music videos with videos like “I’m Just Snacking” and “Prune, You Talk Funny” earning him more than a million views. In his latest interview with Vogue, Dapperton describes his concentration for his music videos are to display his personality in conjunction to his music with, “ I think seeing the artist is important, and you can hear their music with their vision and [look] in mind, too.” Essentially, Dapperton’s music videos are representational towards his charm and quirky personality with his smooth dance moves that seem effortless in style as he glides and spins around with his long legs, and every visual project showcases Dapperton’s amazing fashion choices reminiscent of 70’s to late 80’s fashion.
Ironically, in his newest video for “World Class Cinema” focuses on Gus wanting to join the movie industry instead of just producing music. Gus and Cohen took the production level up another notch and incorporated a narrative consisting of Gus taking on different movie sets while singing and dancing along to his song. Scenes included Gus taking on the form of a 70’s esque jock, a James Bond spy, a mad scientist, and a criminal. “World Class Cinema” is somewhat similar in style to “Prune, You Talk Funny,” which is a bona fide dance track that is impossible not to dance or head bop along with. The single itself is almost infectious in instrumental nature with its energetic use of keys and groovy guitar riffs. The chorus consisting of Gus singing “And I could be in the movies/ And you can be Rose McGowan/ I feel like I’m famous/ Every time we’re alone, every time we’re alone” genuinely implants itself into your brain like a newfound earworm that’ll cause one to involuntary hum the chorus or stream it on repeat, which is what I have been personally doing since its release a week ago. The video for the single is itself very vivacious in perfectly portraying the creative mindset of both Gus’s and Cohen. While additionally, gives viewers clear insight into Dapperton’s clear love for film that seems to serve as a major inspiration when it comes to both the production of his music and his videos.
By far my favorite part of the video and the perfect way to seamlessly wrap up the video is the ending, where Gus snaps out of his daydream of starring in movies. Gus is woken up by his “manager’ who is none other than, Brie Vinaite, who played the starring role of Halley in the movie “The Florida Project.” Vinaite screams at Gus for his irresponsibility for the last remaining minutes of the video, while Gus continues to solemnly daydream of a life as an actor instead of just a singer. Overall, The meshing of Vinatie and Gu’s personalities was the perfect way to wrap up the visually loaded video.
Overall, it seems like Gus is on a clear trajectory that is only going up in terms of his musical career, which is most notably justified on the clear amount of effort and craftsmanship he puts into everything he does as a musician. Dapperton’s impact on the “bedroom pop” genre- where some coin him the king- is clearly evident and unique. His music has spurred a rise in attention towards the genre itself. From his fluid dance moves to his bright upbeat personality that clearly matches the nature of his music, it’s hard for one not to find appeal in Dapperton’s music and his character. If you want to catch Gus on tour before he starts playing bigger venues and would like to hear “World Class Cinema” live, Dapperton will be in Boston at the Sinclair on October 30th.