Flashback Friday: Chromeo

Here at HIP Video Promo, we’ve been working hard to promote music videos since the year 2000. It’s important to us to help younger and independent artists get the recognition they deserve, and it’s exciting to be on the ground floor with artists that become household names (and with over 4500 videos under our belts in 23 years, there are quite a few). 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.

After peaking at a certain level of fame, many artists develop a conventional personality that includes an adaptation of mainstream trends and commonplace habits. This method works for many celebrities, of course, but no matter how many streams or bookings Chromeo gets, nothing diminishes their funkiness. Dave 1 and P-Thugg have such a tight relationship – both on and off camera – that they radiate the camaraderie and chemistry of performing bandmates. Their space funk attitude and gleamingly plastic synth-pop tones allow the electro-funk duo to pay homage to the disco floor while refashioning it for modern audiences.

We first worked with Chromeo in 2004 for their clip “Needy Girl.” It begins in a regular, purely functional basement, but once the duo starts playing, a sleek, white video set pours down from the ceiling. A phone call from Dave’s supposed girlfriend shatters their illusion and reverts the basement into its ordinary state. Yet when Dave departs from the phone, the guys are away from the demands of needy girls and back into their own private, musically generated universe.

A year later, we promoted “Rage,” one of their angriest songs yet. The video is set in a glitzy club-music fantasia, and Dave 1 and P-Thugg are backed by a band, but at a closer look, the “band” is replicates of the duo. At the end of the video, overcome by rage, the synthesist levitates straight up to the ceiling, as Dave 1 watches in astonishment.

Although “Tenderoni” sounds like a satirical made-up word, it has a long use in urban hip-hop. P-Thugg plays the delivery man for “Tenderoni Pizza,” and we watch him ride through the streets on a beautiful day, making stops to drop off pies. Dave 1 is spray-painted on the side of the van but can move and struggles to reach the attractive girl at the other end of the truck. When they finally reach, they pop champagne to celebrate. The punchline comes when P-Thugg delivers his final pizza to the real-life version of the spray-painted girl, who’s more interested in him than her pizza. Amusingly, Dave 1’s tenderoni was stolen by his bandmate.

Chromeo is still trending and is now featuring popular artists in their music, such as DRAM in “Must’ve Been.” Their music video, released in 2018, portrays the timelines of Dave 1 and P-Thugg getting into trouble throughout the years and running away from their problems. No matter kids or adults, they always have each other’s backs and will do anything to make sure none of them get caught.

Written by HIP Administrative Assistant Melissa Ng.