Charlie XCX’s celeb-packed video Boys is the type of objectification we can get down with. Starring Stormzy, Joe Jonas, Riz Ahmed, Ty Dolla Sign, Mark Ronson and more, it’s a three minute, millennial pink, knee-buckling swoon-fest of eligible celebrity men eating pancakes and holding puppies.
While the video cycles through a cast of A-Listers, Charli sweetly sings, ‘I'm sorry that I missed your party, I wish I had a better excuse like, I had to trash the hotel lobby, But I was busy thinkin' 'bout boys, boys, boys’. Banking on the argot ‘sex sells’, the video averts the male gaze. In an interview with Jukee magazine, the artist born Charlotte Aitchison explains, ‘I made a conscious decision to not be in the video and to have all the guys doing the sexy things that girls are normally doing’. It uses the format of Blurred Lines to systematically mock the way female stars are forced into an overtly sexualised space.
In keeping with Charli’s ethos, she features stars of all shapes, ages and creeds. The complete list (in alphabetical order, thank you very much) is:
Aminé; AG Cook; Barns Courtney; Brendan Urie; Bring Me The Horizon's Oli; Buddy; Cameron Dallas; Charlie Puth; Chromeo; Cobra Snake; Connor Franta; Dan Smith Bastille); Denzel Curry; Youtuber Di Casp
Diplo; Fai Khadra; Flume; Frank Carter; G Eazy; Jack Antonoff; Jack Guinness; Jay Park; Jay Prince; Joe Jonas; Joey Badass;
Kaytranada; Khalid; Liam Fray from the Courteeners; Mac DeMarco; Mark Ronson; Max Hershenow from MS MR; Mic Lowry; MNEK; One Ok Rock; Poet; Portugal,
The Man; Prince & Jacob; Riz Ahmed & The Swet Shop Boys; Sage The Gemini; Shamari Maurice; Shokichi; Shaun Ross; Spector's Fred; Stormzy; THEY; The Fat Jew; The Hurts' Theo; The Libertines' Carl Barratt;
The Slaves' Laurie; The Vamps' Tristan and James; Tinie Tempah; Tom Daley; Tom Grennan; Tommy Cash; Ty Dolla Sign; Vance Joy; Vampire Weekend's Ezra and Rostam; Will.i.am; Wiz Khalifa; Wstrn.
The takeaway: we’re busy thinking about boys.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.