Video Hits: “The Time (Dirty Bit)” by Black Eyed Peas

will.i.am in The Black Eyed Peas\’ The Time (Dirty Bit)

I take music kind of seriously, so when I realized I had to pick the first video for this new year of Video Hits, I had a hard time deciding what I was actually going to feature to kick off 2011. After all, I had capped off 2010 with what I consider a rather awesome video: Daft Punk’s “Derezzed,” but that was frankly an easy pick. So far, 2011 hasn’t really offered up much in the way of new videos that have captured my attention, which meant that I’d have to look back to the end of last year for a new video.

The answer was almost instantly obvious when I thought about it though — after watching this video a few times I knew I had to feature The Black Eyed Peas’ “The Time (Dirty Bit)”. This mildly retro-themed digital trip is little more than a promo video for the band, as always, but the blocky, 8-bit-like animation is kind of fun, and like most of the videos from the Black Eyed Peas, it’s slick like only the best American advertising can be.

The video also reminds me that in a few years we are all going to look back at videos like this one and laugh at what passed for fashion these days.

It’s also a devilishly catchy song though, and if nothing else, it will likely leave you talking, if not for the video itself than for the ongoing debate about Fergie’s talent, or will.i.am’s decision to sell out for massive fame, and fortune…

Each week in Video Hits I feature a new music video to admire, mock, and discuss. From the great to the awful, whether they’re from twenty years or twenty minutes ago.

For you Canadians out there, the title of this series is totally a tribute to CBC’s original 80s TV series, Video Hits.