Breakdancing? Metallica? Director Mike Salomon shatters cultural barriers (vis-à-vis Dierks Bentley, of course)

First off, I'd like to give a big and much overdue shout out to my man Dierks Bentley for walking home with the much deserved award for "CMT Performance of the Year." Dude has been wrecking some shit for a minute now, and as I've said before here, if there was an award for 'Getting the Most Pussy' in country music, Dierks would have taken that shit home too.

I thought I'd celebrate Dierks' stellar victory last week with another post, this time on his latest single "Sideways." As you probably expect from something on the 'Feel That Fire' full length, shit is some straight MURDER.

"Sideways" video directed by Michael Salomon :


Basically in the song, Dierks (whose likeness is grossly misrepresented by some chump in the video, and whose inadequacies are magnified further by Dierks completely blowing the roof off the place on stage) steps to some chick in a bar and because he's unable to hear her name cause of the sweet ass music coming from the rad band on stage, he tries to step up his game further, saying that he wants to "get a little sideways" with her. HELL YEA. I can tell you first hand that next time you're out at a bar, DEFINITELY try that line out on somebody. Pretty much guaranteed you'll "gotta make em wanna come back for more" every time.

But instead of focusing on how Dierks is indeed all about getting up in some pussy (even though he clearly is, which is why i think he's rad, personally), I want to focus on the incredible and excellently conceived video directed by Michael Salomon. If you're not familiar with Salomon, I'll happily school you a bit. Not only did he direct the super dark video for "One" by Metallica, but yes he is THE Michael Salomon that directed the film that said blog is named after, 2008's underrated masterpiece 'Beer For My Horses' written by and starring both Toby Keith and comedy heavyweight Rodney Carrington, and also featuring cultural legend Ted Nugent.

Video for Metallica "One" (Directed by Michael Salomon):
Metallica One Original Video


Scene from "Beer for My Horses" (Directed by Michael Salomon):


Stellar work across the board, no doubt. Back to the video for "Sideways" though. What is most impressive about this video aside from the fact that the club is packed with hot ass women of all colors, but that the only dudes in the joint are Dierks and the dudes in Dierks' band, the guy playing Dierks' likeness, the club bouncer... and yes, the breakdancers!! Only in my wildest dreams would I ever see some serious pop & locking going down while some country was bumpin' on the speakers. And yes, Salomon plays his cards right and makes sure that these quick glimpses of no-holds-barred urban expression are set within the confines of a line dance and other dancefloor acrobatics. In turn, he's making these whiteys get down with some hip hop shit without they really even knowing it. MIKE SALOMON YOU SUBVERSIVE MOTHERFUCKER!

Of course though, while Dierks Bentley and Mike Salomon continue to push the boundaries with their continued blurring of cultural lines... alas, they weren't the first. That honor goes to "one of the rising stars of country music," Bubba James Hudson. Hip hop, funk, cajun, "country/rap", and a "hot new" techno version of a track... all for line dancing specifically??? Sign me up.

Bubba James Hudson - Country Rap Attack (Definitely Not Directed by Michael Salomon)