Chart Mondays: Logic Featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid - 1-800-273-8255
1-800-273-8255 (feat. Alessia Cara & Khalid) - Logic |
Okay, so I'm still on my catch-up spree, in case you haven't guessed. I'm behind by seven days now, which sounds so much better than 13 days like I was a few days ago. Anyhow, what I wasn't expecting was a music video that would make me cry because that usually equates to a very long review, one that will take me some time to write up; time of which I don't have because I'm trying to catch up with myself. Low and behold, here is the perpetrating music video, and it just so happens to be Chart Mondays too. Since Post Malone is holding reign at the top of the UK Singles Chart with "Rockstar" featuring 21 Savage, which doesn't have a music video, it opens the top ten, and just sitting at number ten is this song, with the video that made me cry. Watch Coy Stewart play a gay character who is contemplating suicide in this heart-wrenching music video for Logic's song "1-800-273-8255" featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid.
Logic, real name Sir Robert Hall II, is an American artist and rapper who has really been building up his career in the last two years. Previous song "Sucker For Pain", which was a massive collaboration, became an international success; a year later, he's hit it off with this song, fully raising awareness for homosexuality and suicide prevention that this track is a smash around the world. Personally, I want to thank him for this song and video, it's rare for these issues to be shown in the media, let alone in rap and hip-hop music, so this track certainly has my support in every single way. Featuring on this track is Alessia Cara and Khalid. The former, whose real name is Alessia Caracciolo, is another star who's built up her career and who is still fighting for a certain song to be identified with her name and image - she's had hits but nothing that she's mostly known for. Then there's the latter feature, who is one of the top rising stars out at the moment. Khalid, full name Khalid Robinson, is someone we're all keeping an eye on. He's made such an impact, this year alone, that he's going to be monumental in the direction of the music industry as the next year rolls in. This song is iconic, it's stamped itself into 2017, and it will never go away, and nor should it. This track is Logic trying to help people, and when you make something this powerful, it deserves to be a hit. "1-800-273-8255" is actually the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the United States; the song itself was written by Sir Robert Hall II, Arjun Ivatury, Alessia Caracciolo, and Khalid Robinson.
Directed by Andy Hines, this music video has touched the world. It's left people speechless, it's left people in tears (including me), and its left people annoyed - because they don't agree with people being gay. It's a powerful visual, one I'll never forget. The video stars Coy Stewart, Nolan Gould, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzmán, and Matthew Modine; it lasts for almost seven minutes, turning it into quite a film-like short.
Coy Stewart plays our main character and can be seen from the very start as he deals with his life. The opening scene sees him running down a street, clearly running away from his life. The following scenes show his childhood, how he's grown from a baby into a man.
As a teenager, he arrives home to his father finding out about his sexuality by discovering a copy of Gay Times Magazine - boy, would I have hated my parents finding out about my homosexuality that way. After a discussion with his father, who clearly doesn't understand, we return to him running down the street. Other scenes see him detached from his college life; worried about his father's words.
We previously saw him acting out a secret handshake with a guy in school, and the following scenes see him hanging out with this guy - played by Nolan Gould. They end up in bed together, and when Nolan's father walks in on them chilling in bed together half-naked, Coy Stewart grabs his clothes and hastens out of the house; disapproval on the father's face, tells all.
This is where Alessia Cara comes in, who can be seen performing her song on screens within the school, adding a passionate and caring vibe to these hard-hitting scenes. Logic also joins in, appearing on computer screens in a tech room; he adds flames to the performance piece, bringing an energetic yet meaningful vibe to the scenes. A joke is played on Coy Stewart in the locker room, where someone's attached a dildo to the inside of his locker.
More depressing scenes follow; one suggesting that he's living at the school since scenes show him sleeping on the floor, and taking a shower at the school. He also falls asleep in class, where his teacher asks if he is okay. His teacher offers him some food, to which he is thankful for.
The next scene sees his father, played by Don Cheadle, heading down the school's corridors and chatting to the kind teacher. Even more distressing scenes follow, where Coy Stewart is seen to be back home in his bedroom with a gun, extremely upset and clearly contemplating suicide - man, this is tough to watch, especially since we've all been there at one point or another, probably not to this extreme but a simple thought or more.
This is the most heart-breaking scene, seeing him acting out with the gun, putting it to his head, to his reflection in the mirror, all the while having flashbacks on certain moments of his life. We are cut away from this scene to what looks like a hook-up scene, where he meets this guy and the car is driven to the top of a parking lot. It's intercut with Khalid performing on the computer screens where we previously watched Logic sing.
Then we see Coy Stewart in the school's bathroom, dialling a number - we presume his calling "1-800-273-8255", the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The turning moment in his life, where he seeks help. The cute scenes that follow show him getting married to a guy, and his parents there to celebrate with him - to know that this scene is part of my future makes me a bit teary, because I never thought I'd be able to get married, and now that it's legal, the thought of going through this process and to marry a guy I love with the support of my family and his family, really gives me goosebumps. To see the proud face of his father is simply amazing.
And to add further cuteness to this ending, we see the happily married couple welcoming a child into the world. Another thing I hope my future brings me. The ending is beautiful and brings it around perfectly. It really does feel like a film, totally representing the LGBTQ+ community as well as suicide, which is something we're used to the media hiding, or not fully taking it into account. It's one of the biggest killers and just talking to someone can actually save a life. This video is brilliant in every way.
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