After spending the summer at the top of charts around the world, David Guetta and Justin Bieber’s long-awaited collaboration “2U” finally gets the video treatment via an incredible official music video.
The visualizer was directed by the Brewer directing duo (Ben and Alex Brewer) – award-winning comprehensive and visionary artists with backgrounds in both illustration and production.
The dizzying video revolves around a couple in the midst of a heated argument that seems to be spelling the death of their relationship. The moment begins to repeat itself, but we notice subtle differences in what’s being replayed. It quickly becomes apparent that we’re seeing alternative versions of what could have and might have been. The story unfolds through animation, zombie apocalypses, 1950s musicals, and more as the possible scenarios for this couple continue to multiply.
The video is a wonderfully complex piece of work whose sophistication matches well with this supremely classy slice of pop music.
Of their creative process and concept for the “2U” video, the directing duo explained: ‘’When we first heard ‘2U’ we were struck by how the music and lyrics supported each other. The song perfectly captures the emotional phenomenon of loving someone to the point where there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them. And we thought it would be great to embrace this idea, being as it’s one of our most beloved cultural clichés, and repeat it over and over again to try to see if through repetition and a new perspective, a new deconstruction could happen. It’s like saying a word over and over again – eventually it starts to lose its shape. We hope people are compelled to watch it multiple times because there is a lot of fun stuff hidden in the frames.”
Still going strong, “2U” can undoubtedly be labeled as one of the soundtracks of summer 2017 and beyond. With 400 million streams, 500k downloads, and 240 million views on the official Victoria’s Secret sync, the track peaked at #3 on Spotify worldwide and #1 on iTunes in 78 countries. It has earned various certifications including 2x platinum in Norway and Sweden, platinum in Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, and gold in the US, Belgium, Columbia, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal, and the UK.
After joining hybrid production company PRETTYBIRD’s roster in 2012, the Brewer duo was honored with the Shots 2013 Best New Director Award. They have since successfully segued to music videos, applying their fresh and artful eye to Foster the People’s “Best Friend,” Capital City’s “One Minute More,” Skylar Grey’s “Final Warning,” and Two Door Cinema Club’s “Changing of the Seasons,” among others. Their music video for Alt-J’s “Something Good” took home the 2013 Young Director Award for Non-European Music Video, and was featured in the SHOOT New Directors Showcase. Brewer’s crowd-sourced music video for Jack Ü featuring Justin Bieber’s “Where Are Ü Now” showcases an interactive art experience, received four 2015 MTV nominations, won the award for Best Visual Effects, and took home a 2016 Silver Clio Music award. More recently, Brewer directed the viral PSA “The Unacceptable Acceptance Letters,” which was produced to help raise awareness for sexual assault on college campuses. As part of the campaign for the Oscar-nominated documentary The Hunting Ground, the PSA garnered several shortlists and won two Bronze Lions at the 2016 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Guetta is one of EDM’s greatest superstars, a 2x GRAMMY® Award-winning international icon with global sales now in excess of 50 million albums and singles as well as over 10 billion plays at YouTube and Spotify. His extraordinary catalog includes countless #1 singles, multiple gold and platinum certifications, two GRAMMY® Awards, and the biggest social media numbers of any DJ/producer in history.
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