I Know That Guy

October 25, 2006


The appearance of Dale Earnhadt Jr and Danica Patrick smiling, waving and turning expensive steering wheels in the clip for Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got" has been the big shit in terms of music video news as of late, but we weren't surprised. Jigga is kind of the king of getting unexpected guest appearances. Over the years he's had Naomi Campbell, Vincent Gallo, Carmen Elektra, Pam Anderson with the short-haired shorty from VIP, Michael Rapaport and Big Daddy Kane amongst others. More interesting to us is the "I lurv the ’80s" nature of other recent music vid cameos. Lukas Haas plays The Patient in My Chemical Romance's "Welcome To the Black Parade," Forest Whitaker takes over the role originated by the bald dude in Bone Thugs' "Tha Crossroads" for TI's "Live in the Sky," and Eric Roberts does a more effeminate Nick Nolte for Akon's 48 Hours-referencing "Smack That." The appearance of Roberts is the biggest head scratcher, not because a Eric Roberts cameo is so random, but because it has become so common. It all started with him getting cast alongside Lance "Lt. Daniels" Reddick as a cop in Jay-Z's "'03 Bonnie and Clyde," then came the Killers' "Mr Brightside" and two clips from Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi. We know Roberts' work in The Specialist was stellar, but it wasn't that stellar.

Posted: October 25, 2006
I Know That Guy