(groovy jazz music)
- So today we're getting transformed
into our hero musicians.
I'm going to try a look inspired by Amy Winehouse
because I love her.
You can here in her music that she was so honest
and that she was being herself
with every lyric that she wrote
and every song that she put out.
Some of her songs were uplifting.
Some of her songs were sad, but
that was the reality of her.
- Amy Winehouse was so compelling
in part because she was able to
somehow combine
a certain type of confident
imperfection with a very humble virtuosity.
- Today, I'm being transformed into John Lennon.
So John Lennon is probably the only person who
gives me the chills every time I hear any of his songs.
My dad just played him over and over and over again.
It's like a very nostalgic, emotional connection
I have with Lennon that I don't have with any other artist.
- I think Lennon's longevity in the public imagination
and in our listening practices
has a lot to do with the style of his song-writing,
that he was constantly innovating
and attempting to develop new means
for us to actually understand the world around us.
- Today, I'm gonna be dressed in a Pharrell-inspired look.
He's pretty much one of the greatest humans
to ever walk the earth.
Pharrell was, I feel like, the first outlet to
let me be able to be myself.
He's incredible.
- So, in particular in the hip-hop genre,
there's a certain perceived notion
or stereotype of black masculinity
as always aggressive, and there are many, many
different ways in which hip-hop musicians
have refused those types of labels
and Pharrell is one of those people.
- I'm a little worried about what I'm gonna look like.
I mean, I'm down to try it out.
(lively electronic music)
The biggest thing, I think, is the hair.
Obviously, she has this huge beehive
and so I'm kind of on the fence of
how it's gonna look on me.
- Every time I saw Pharrell, I just felt like
I was looking at that cool uncle
I always wanted to have.
I felt like when I first put the jacket on,
like that was the foundation.
When the hat came out, that's when it was just like,
that's when it was done.
- I think that I sometimes accidentally dress like Lennon.
So yeah, I would rock that look.
His sunnies in particular, but the middle part,
it's not in right now.
He pulled it off.
- I'm not very used to wearing bright lip colors,
so this is something that's definitely very weird for me.
When we brought the wig over, I was like
"That is not going to fit on my head."
We definitely tried and we got it on.
It's on my head.
- [Tan] I hope it's gonna look cool.
I hope I do him some kind of justice
and I hope my dad sees this and he's happy with it.
(upbeat dance music)
Lying around with flower petals being thrown at my face.
What a dream.
- [Curtis] I definitely think that the aesthetic today,
I think Pharrell approves of this.
When speaking about Pharrell,
I don't even know if it's like dance.
It's like groove.
You find the beat and you ride it,
and then you're just like, "Yeah.
Yeah, this is it."
(dance music)
- [Selorm] I don't know how it's gonna look,
I don't know how I did.
Internally, I feel so shy because
I'm not used to just like, doing that.
Because I listened to some of her music
and just, like, tried to appreciate who she was
and the way that the music always made me feel.
Honestly, I had a lot of fun,
so I'm hoping that that's conveyed through the video.
I'm excited to see it, but only time will tell.
(jazz music)
- I didn't even know that a reveal was part of this video.
So this is kinda exciting, but I'm
a little bit nervous, too, cuz
I've got big shoes to fill.
- I'm excited to see how it turned out.
It was some really cool stuff happening.
The dance moves was there, the vibes were there.
The outfit was there, ya know?
So I'm excited about it.
- I'm excited, but I also hope I don't look crazy.
I really wanted this to be something that honored her
and was kind of a beautiful appreciation
of what I appreciate about her.
So I hope it comes off that way.
- All right. I'm gonna press play.
(Lennon-style electronic music)
Yeah.
Shit, that's fuckin cool.
I look like a stoned lesbian John Lennon.
This is perfect.
Oh, man, I love this.
That looked heaps better than I imagined.
I am a little bit cool.
I didn't know that.
So I'm really excited for my dad to see this now.
I was a little bit nervous, particularly, you know,
like the five o'clock shadow thing had me
a little bit, like, eh, but it works.
(Pharrell-style hip-hop music)
♫ Let's go. Woo! Let's go.
♫ Go. Let's go.
♫ Let's go.
♫ Check it out now.
♫ I arrive from the tribe feelin free and alive
♫ Eyes wide, seeking the mystique
- Oh, these dance scenes are hilarious.
♫ It's all so that my grief through the rear-view mirror
♫ Cuz every now and then life is a drag
♫ And when I feel the beat
Oh, I like the disco ball with this.
(hip-hop music)
I like that, I like that.
It's one of those things I almost want to watch again.
I think sometimes, it's like hard to watch yourself,
because we are our biggest critic.
It didn't feel forced, like it just felt
like it was, you know, when you just exude it.
Kinda like Pharrell's charisma, you know.
It's just, it's there. You don't know what it is,
but it's something.
I think I did it justice and
it was well-executed, well-shot.
And it was just put together very tastefully.
- And, play.
(Winehouse-style vocal music)
Ooh!
♫ I thought we were over
This is cool.
♫ I thought we were done.
The hair is so raddy, though, it's just so not me.
♫ You took my heart and made it colder.
♫ I took my soul and tried to run.
It looks like this is my actual style, you know?
Like if I was walking around,
I wouldn't be comfortable with it,
but the way that I look, I look so comfortable with it.
Honestly, just props to Amy Winehouse for owning her style.
Just being herself and not being afraid
of what people are gonna think or say about it.
I'm really glad that I don't look as awkward as I felt.
I'm still not doing that hair ever fucking again, though.
I'm never doing that again.
- The ways in which people actually engage the music
is suggestive, then, of how they engage with the musicians.
So music is a way in which people
are often connected to the world around them.
And these musicians then become
the conduit for our connections,
they become the ways in which we can imagine ourselves
thinking differently or living differently,
or being differently in the world.
And so, people quite often have
a very significant attachment to the musicians
that they listen to and whom they idolize.
(rhythmic music)