SOUNDS: Music videos are becoming cool again: Okay, well at least one video: Erykah Badu

We love this video because:

A) It takes us back to 1998 when Erykah Badu released the clip for "Bag Lady," which was a really clever riff off of Ntozake Shange's book and play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf: A Choreopoem. It was so smart and just plain good.

B) It takes us back to a time when we used to love channel surfing through BET and MTV to see what new music videos were released each week and talk about them with our friends. It's no secret the videos shown on major networks are lamer than lame.

C) The song is fire in a low-key kind of way. Her entire new album, "New Amerykah" makes us think of Alicia Keys' "As I Am" in that it's not necessarily breaking new sonic ground, but plays to her strengths: soulful, spaced-out (for more spacey things that we like, read our Balenciaga post below) music. She also seems to meld the narrative approach she took with her second album, "Mama's Gun" with the jam session quality of her third, "Worldwide," which is a smart move considering that the last album made us wish that we were hearing it live rather than on a stereo.

(And random silly question: When did Erykah go and develop thighs and a booty? Remember when she used to be all bony? She's giving Beyoncé a run for her money. We're not mad.)