Jay-Z ft. Pharell Williams

It’s a typical evening in Manhattan,

and Zoe Kravitz decides to go for a

walk. Innocent enough, right? Wrong.

In the course of one night, Kravitz

is depicted necking with strange boys

on the street, smoking what may or

may not be PCP in the park while

wearing hoop earrings, and rolling on

club drugs in—where else?—da club.

Kravitz’s collective exploits work

towards director Phillip Andelman’s

mission to delineate the parallel between

drug abuse and bad relationships

that is at the very core of the

lyrics for “I Know.” It’s a parent’s

worst nightmare—although Kravitz’s

parents (Lisa Bonet and Lenny) may

not necessarily be shocked.

What’s shocking is the extent to

which both Jay and Andelman must

have tricked themselves into thinking

that this kind of association is in the

least bit novel. It’s been just over 30

years since Lou Reed first sang, “Heroin,

/ its my wife and it’s my life,” and

all Jay’s been able to come up with is,

“Just for one night, baby, take me in

vein”? Really?

Perhaps as a function of how

tired the song’s subject matter is, the

video for “I Know” is massively underwhelming.

Andelman’s boundless

creativity manifests itself in such

never-before-seen depictions of drug

use as: elaborate and beautiful hallucinations,

the use of a Timothy

Leary-esque color palette, and—my

personal favorite—people acting really

out of it.

Furthermore, the director seems

obsessed with the idea that people

on drugs feel like they’re melting and

think that everything around them

is melting. In the four-minute clip,

all kinds of light-emitting objects

get trippy. That including marquees,

lamp posts, and chandeliers.

Ultimately, this video is about

showcasing Ms. Kravitz. And while

it might be going a little far to laud

Kravitz for her acting skills in the

video—she’s not really playing Gilbert

Grape here, just pretending to

be stoned for four minutes straight—

there’s something undeniably alluring

about her that warrants watching

the clip at least once. (DISCLAIMER:

The H.O.V.A makes nary an appearance.)

—Ruben L. Davis