The new visual drop of Jay Z’s thirteenth album release, ‘4:44‘ released only last month, breathes life into one of the more unexpected tracks off the album – ‘Moonlight‘.
Jay Z recreates the comedy classic, Friends, for the ‘Moonlight’ music video while also recasting all of its traditional characters with an all-Black cast of talented young actors including Lil Rel Howery (Get Out) as Joey, Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta) as Chandler, Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show) as Ross, Issa Rae (Insecure) as Rachel, Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) as Phoebe, and Tessa Thompson (Dear White People) as Monica. Hannibal Buress also makes an appearance midway through the clip.
The group also recreates the sitcom’s fountain scene intro with Whodini’s “Friends” playing instead of the original music.
‘Moonlight‘ makes a much needed statement on the state of the music, film and television industry in this satirical parody – especially during the conversation between Ross (Carmichael) and Hannibal Buress midway through the video with Hannibal jokingly giving Carmichael the idea that he should simply recreate another sitcom show with an all-Black cast instead of delving into his own comedic originality. Jay Z also lyrically comments on the Oscar for Best Picture blunder earlier this year with La La Land mistakenly being announced as the winner over Barry Jenkins’ film Moonlight; “we stuck in La La Land, even when we win – we lose, we got the same fuckin’ flows, I don’t know who is who”.
The clip ends with Ross (Carmichael) venturing into a park and reflecting upon a full moon and stars. Jay Z also inserts the audio clip of the Oscar for Best Picture confusion at the end of the video.
Watch Jay-Z’s “Moonlight” video below, and let us know what you think.