Flashback Friday – Hollywood Undead
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Here at HIP Video Promo, we’ve been working hard to promote music videos since the year 2000 and have over 4,600 videos under our belt. Due to our experience and expertise in the marketing world, we have promoted some of the best musical acts of our time and influenced an entire genre of music. It’s important to give these artists a platform, and we have done that but it’s their talent that shoots them into instant stardom. Every Friday, we’ll be sharing a “Flashback Friday” video, where we get to reflect on one of our favorite videos from a few years ago.
Hollywood Undead crashed onto the scene in 2005 and then threw a party for the destruction they caused. They rose from the wave of the Myspace music revolution back in the late 2000s. After setting up their profile, they got to work creating music that was true to themselves which was dark, unapologetic and unafraid to offend in a time that was highly experimental. They capitalized on the rise of scene-core and they are continuing to ride the success from their debut album, Swan Songs– which was highly regarded even though it contained cursing, drug references and an influx of sexual call-outs. This rock, neo-metal, and hip-hop group is composed of six members on and off including Johnny 3 Tears, J-Dog, Charlie Scene, Funny Man, Danny, and Deuce. Deuce was originally on lead vocals but left the band recently, but it doesn’t take away from his influence and inspiration starting Hollywood Undead. Each member has a strong personality that shines through their verses, bringing a lively energy and spirit behind their provocative lyrics- especially Charlie Scene’s strong consistent additions.
Originally from Los Angeles, they have been running the streets in their ambiguous masks to hide their identity while glorifying drugs, careless sex, and getting totally drunk while cursing at cops. They scream the quiet things that everyone refuses to acknowledge, even calling out the state of society in a witty manner. They are above the law physically and metaphorically which carries an energy and confidence to them as they become deeply obsessed with their dark sides, falling deeper and deeper into suicidal despair. They unapologetically objectify women as they live their rock star lifestyles that is self-destructive as they find peace in the chaos, able to reflect back on themselves in a show of uncertainty that eventually strays into clarity. Gaining a loyal fan base from Swan Songs, Hollywood Undead’s fans are called the Undead Army, and these followers are always ready to go into battle. Hollywood Undead acts like a voice for the voiceless, giving peace to their listeners by showing them it’s okay to be messed up and still be confident and remorseless.
Back in 2008, we were sent the video for their breakout hit, “No.5” and we were taken aback at the originality and lyricism on this track. It was certainly different but it featured all the best aspects of emo-core and scene-core at the time. With an interesting take on the world with their attitude, values, and body language- we predicted that this was going to be bigger than they anticipated. Directed by Jonas Akerlund, the video opens to the members on the street with their signature face masks as they terrorize the town unidentifiable. In between the lyrics and quick shots, their groupies are shown grinding on the members, eventually inspiring a riot.
Based on the success of this single, people were motivated to check out their other tracks on Swan Songs, including their biggest hits “Sell Your Soul,” “Everywhere I Go,” “Black Dahlia,” “This Love, This Hate,” “Bottle And A Gun,” “City,” and “Paradise Lost.” With every single on the album being a standout track, they were able to breakout from MySpace to sign a major label recording contract; they are currently signed to Dove Grenade/BMG. They followed the album up with their 2009 release, Desperate Measures which included “El Urgencia” and “Dove and Grenade.” It only took them two years to release American Tragedy that included the famous single “Bullet” which glorified suicidal urges. They then released Notes From The Underground in 2012, Day of The Dead in 2015 and Five in 2017. They also released a plethora of live albums to highlight the energy behind their distinctive personalities as they take the stage in a gang like matter, shouting to the crowd for someone to understand their messages behind the offensive and insulting content.
Hollywood Undead incorporates light production and happy yet melancholy beats with extremely heavy suicidal lyrics that focus on depression. They do not give into their despondency but possess an anger for being born into this life faced with such extreme obstacles. They are still able to navigate through their own minds to give meaning behind their existence, touching on opposite or contrary forces and topics that are complementary and interconnected.
Hollywood Undead doesn’t stop putting out music even though scene-core died years ago. Being one of the last remaining successful MySpace bands out there, they have continued to thrive based on their originality and talent to produce something entirely original and groundbreaking. They released an album back in 2017 entitled Five which capitalized on their raw ability to produce great music without having to pull from anything. They are in the works for releasing their seventh studio album and just released a new single, “Gotta Let Go”, just back in May. They continue to work with a slower and lighter beat, similar to their single, “Bullet” from their 2011 release American Tragedy. Johnny 3 Tears described it as, “at times when we look at the past, we only see the struggles and the hardships. We too often forget about the good moments because we are blinded by the pain we all go through. This song is about letting go of that pain so we can see that life can be a beautiful experience.” Fans watched them evolve musically, visually, and sonically, personally witnessing the journey they have experienced regarding their mental health, bonding them together thus making The Undead Army a group of lifelong fans- just like myself.
We’ve been big fans of Hollywood Dead since the beginning and shot them to their rightfully deserved stardom, and we are ecstatic to be promoting one of the last standing scene-core bands. We can’t wait to see what diverse artist becomes the next breakout star. Do you think your video has what it takes to be the next worldwide smash hit? Get in touch with Andy Gesner and the rest of the HIP Video Promo team by giving us a call at (732)-613-1779 or emailing us at info@HIPVideoPromo.com.
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