Post Malone and The Weeknd “One Right Now” Video Is a Satire of Action Movies and It’s Amazing
Last month, Post Malone returned with what it supposedly the first official single from his forthcoming album, PM4, a collaboration with The Weeknd called “One Right Now.”
I say supposedly about this new record because, back in the summer, after a lengthy hiatus, Posty dropped “Motley Crew. It was produced by my longtime pal David “D.A. Got That Dope” Doman, and with its NASCAR-inspired video and gang gang vibe, it looked like that record was going to take off, but for one reason or another, it never seemed to launch.
But “One Right Now” feels different. For one, with its retro bass line and 80's-style drum track, the sound of the production itself instantly grabs you. You can’t quite tell when you turn it on if will be a hit, but within the first thirty seconds, it at least feels like one.
To wit, there’s the retro bass line and 80s-style drum programming — courtesy of longtime Post Malone producer Louis Bell, plus Brian Lee (who has worked with Lady Gaga and Fifth Harmony, among others), and mix engineer/vocal producer Andrew Bolooki — which gets your head nodding alone; and then, The Weeknd’s airy falsetto comes in, belting out a chorus you can easily sing along to:
“Said you love me, but I don’t care
That I broke my hand on the same wall
That you told me that he fucked you on
You think it’s so easy fuckin’ with my feelings
I got one comin’ over and one right now.”
The single and solitary verse on the song is Post’s, and while it certainly isn’t the most inventive set of lyrics penned to paper, they’re delivered with little melodic flushes that make them distinctive to the Syracuse, N.Y. native. Then, he too, takes a turn with the chorus, trying to one-up The Weeknd’s with his own gravely-voiced falsetto.
“One Right Now” is pure ear candy, and after hearing you expect its music video to be laden with scenes depicting a tortured romance, perhaps Post and a love interest arguing amongst themselves, with Post dotting off into his own world, and her in hers, both seemingly intent on outdoing each other in the bed, as the song suggests.
But, the video is anything like that. Over at SPIN, they described the clip, directed by Ukranian director Tanu Muino (whose credits also include Lil Nas X’s “Montero” and Cardi B’s “Up”) as a John Wick pastiche, which may be putting it mildly. For three and a half minutes, the duo go complete shoot em’ up style, leaving a wake of bloodied henchmen — including dozens of Abel Tesfaye look-a-likes — in their path.
On its surface, it can appear absolutely ridiculous, and so over the top as to be nonsensical, but on a second or third viewing, it appears more satirical, a send-up of cheesy 80’s movies that films like John Wick try to emulate. The inspiration, from this viewer at least, would be the 1994 cult classic, “The Professional,” directed by Luc Besson, and starring Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and marking the debut of soon-to-be-famous actress named Natalie Portman.
Guns and blood is what you want, “One Right Now” seems to say, so the video piles it on, until the very end, when the two characters face one another, and the story reaches its only logical climax. It is a music video, and it is comical, and yet for three and a half minutes, you can’t turn it off or look away.
Watch: Post Malone x The Weeknd — “One Right Now”
