Drake’s new video for “God’s Plan,” the No. 1 song in the country, bottles and elevates that Publishers Clearing House feeling. In it, the Toronto superstar distributes his million-dollar production budget to people around Miami—by telling all the shoppers in a Sabor Tropical Supermarket that everything on the shelves are free, by presenting a scholarship check to an unsuspecting student, by giving gift cards to women at a shelter, and more. The double-takes are the best parts. In one moment, Drake sidles up to a family who’s sitting on a ledge. One of the kids notices the rapper sitting next to her, and shrieks. Drake smiles and hands the family a wad of cash. Star-struck thrill melts into a more tender emotion. The family members cover their eyes, and they hug.

What is this video: goodhearted charity, pop promotional spectacle, or both? Both, making it part of a long history. The word “humanitainment” has been used to describe splashy celebrity-generosity efforts ranging from the Live 8 concert to David Beckham’s UNICEF work, and that term certainly seems to fit “God’s Plan.” It’s an act of grace, and it’s a show—one perfectly calibrated to currently popular attitudes around giving, stardom, and society.

The supremely influential and prolific Drake defines the term “love him or hate him.” Yet as the “God’s Plan” clip earned nearly 30 million plays over a few days, a common response has been to note the lack of backlash. “It seemed like an easy target,” wrote Eric Skelton at Pigeons and Planes about the video. “I was wrong. Every tweet and YouTube comment I’ve come across so far has been positive.” The most prominent criticism isn’t criticism at all, but rather praise that acknowledges the obvious criticism. One typical example came when Adult Swim’s Jason DeMarco tweeted, “The Drake video is good. Insanely rich ppl giving money away is good, I don’t care if it’s self-serving.”

It is good—both in the moral sense and the aesthetic sense. Director Karena Evans strikingly juxtaposes colorful and worn-down homes with the sleekness of high-end department stores and post-modern campus architecture. Steadicam gives a feeling of vérité, while overhead crowd shots—involving, we see, a cherrypicker that Drake perches in—add grandeur. Absent are clichés of yachts and strippers that have made Miami the ultimate music-video setting. In fact, Drake may be slyly addressing a seven-year-old callout by 2 Live Crew’s Uncle Luke against rappers who exploit Miami’s glam and ignore its average resident.

Those residents, now, are all over the “God’s Plan” video. To start, we hear one man talk about being the same age as Denzel Washington, not having Denzel’s money, and still looking good and feeling fine. The monologue offers a taste of Miami personality, but it also hints at a message about money, race, and dignity. From there, the video casts its sanctifying gaze on a wide range of folks, mostly of color, including both men and women, children and the elderly. Evans pays special attention to emotion: the shock and the weeping as Drake plays Santa, yes, but also the joys of dance, sing-alongs, and shopping.

Still, there’s a tension inherent in the video’s premise. Celebrity do-goodery is an American tradition; resenting stars who use public service for public relations is also a tradition. “He has bought fame and paid cash for it,” Mark Twain once quipped about Andrew Carnegie’s libraries, part of the industrialist’s transformative philanthropic career. Today, when Taylor Swift helps pay her fans’ student loans, it’s seen, by her harshest critics, as a sign of smugness.

If you’re looking for the larger underpinning of such attitudes, you can read scholars like Ilan Kapoor, author of the 2012 book Celebrity Humanitarianism: The Ideology of Global Charity. Fundamentally, spectacles of giving have some element of selfish advertising motive, and they often end up making the viewer feel okay about an unfair status quo. “Celebrity humanitarianism, far from being altruistic … is most often self-serving, helping to promote institutional aggrandizement and the celebrity ‘brand,’” Kapoor writes in the book. It also “advances consumerism and corporate capitalism, and rationalizes the very global inequality it seeks to redress.”

Those residents, now, are all over the “God’s Plan” video. To start, we hear one man talk about being the same age as Denzel Washington, not having Denzel’s money, and still looking good and feeling fine. The monologue offers a taste of Miami personality, but it also hints at a message about money, race, and dignity. From there, the video casts its sanctifying gaze on a wide range of folks, mostly of color, including both men and women, children and the elderly. Evans pays special attention to emotion: the shock and the weeping as Drake plays Santa, yes, but also the joys of dance, sing-alongs, and shopping.

Still, there’s a tension inherent in the video’s premise. Celebrity do-goodery is an American tradition; resenting stars who use public service for public relations is also a tradition. “He has bought fame and paid cash for it,” Mark Twain once quipped about Andrew Carnegie’s libraries, part of the industrialist’s transformative philanthropic career. Today, when Taylor Swift helps pay her fans’ student loans, it’s seen, by her harshest critics, as a sign of smugness.

If you’re looking for the larger underpinning of such attitudes, you can read scholars like Ilan Kapoor, author of the 2012 book Celebrity Humanitarianism: The Ideology of Global Charity. Fundamentally, spectacles of giving have some element of selfish advertising motive, and they often end up making the viewer feel okay about an unfair status quo. “Celebrity humanitarianism, far from being altruistic … is most often self-serving, helping to promote institutional aggrandizement and the celebrity ‘brand,’” Kapoor writes in the book. It also “advances consumerism and corporate capitalism, and rationalizes the very global inequality it seeks to redress.”

The pathos of the “God’s Plan” video comes, explicitly, from the way inequality looms large over it. One of the women it features is Odelie Paret, a 62-year-old mother of five who, for years, has commuted four hours by bus each day to work as a housekeeper for $15 an hour at the Fontainebleau Hotel. Possibly after discovering her through a 2017 Miami Herald story about prohibitive rent prices in the city, Drake treated Paret to an Saks shopping spree, a massage at the Fontainebleau’s spa, and a steakhouse dinner. In the Herald follow-up after the release of “God’s Plan,” Paret sounds grateful for what the rapper did. But the story closes by noting that “work was on her mind when she arrived from her whirlwind night with Drake. … She’d have three hours before she would have to be up to catch the bus again.”

In Drake’s particular realm of fame—that of black celebrity, especially as tied to hip-hop—charity efforts often receive special scrutiny. The singer and civil rights icon Harry Belafonte famously said in 2012 that “one of the great abuses of this modern time is that we should have had such high-profile artists … [who] have turned their back on social responsibility. That goes for Jay-Z and Beyoncé, for example.” Jay-Z’s first reply: “This is going to sound arrogant, but my presence is charity. Just who I am. Just like Obama’s is.” It was rap boilerplate. For Drake as well as Jay-Z, the journey from the bottom to the top is not merely fodder for an entertaining retelling of the American dream—it’s a political statement, meant to inspire listeners with that dream’s possibilities.

But in the years since the Belafonte dustup, we’ve seen Jay-Z and some of his peers amp up their visible social engagement, with policy activism, more conscientious lyrics, and splashier charity efforts—or, alternately, pointedly unsplashy ones. Replying to Belafonte in song, Jay-Z rapped that “purest form of giving is anonymous to anonymous,” which is a reference to the teachings of the Jewish philosopher Maimonides, who established an eight-level rubric by which to judge the purity of giving (anon-to-anon isn’t actually the highest level; affording someone else lifetime self-sufficiency is). Reports then leaked out about Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s supposed donating in secret to Ferguson protestors, high-school students in need, and trans folk.

Drake (a noted Torah scholar!) is more operating at the fifth- or sixth-highest level of Maimonides’s righteousness scale with his video: He’s giving without being asked, but also without anonymity. Though not thought of as much of an activist, Drake has over the years made headlines for individual mitzvahs, like when he bought a recording studio for an underserved school in Philadelphia. And his music often presents him as a generous benefactor for his family, friends, and Toronto community. In the lyrics of “God’s Plan,” Drake uses his supposed largess as a way to shore up his persecution pose: “I make sure that North Side eat. And still … It’s a lot of bad things that wishin’ on me.”

In the video, that line about people wishing bad things on Drake reads as an ironic punchline while he pushes shopping carts of wrapped toys to kids. Throughout the clip, hip-hop’s favored metaphor about the high life as a populist beacon becomes literal, visible, communal. Note that Drake gifts people not only essentials—groceries and school funds—but also expensive clothes and private concerts. This isn’t the highly-regulated EBT vision of wealth sharing. It’s the kind that celebrates how anyone might use their windfalls on wine:

Olive Oil and Vino…sounds like the party is at his house tonight.

A post shared by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Feb 17, 2018 at 1:42pm PST

Drake’s hoping his public display of generosity will have a ripple effect, and not only on his own reputation. On Instagram, he called for a “God’s Plan” challenge in which regular people follow his lead with acts of kindness. Searching around, I haven’t seen a ton by way of public response—though there is this parody in which a guy hands out spam and air fresheners to people on the street. (There’s also a mini-controversy over whether Drake copied the #HelpingHands challenge launched recently by the rapper XXXtentacion.) More fan-led “God’s Plan” efforts may be to come, or they may be unfolding in private.

Of course, there are different ways to fight for a lasting impact: philanthropy, rather than charity. Other celebrities have founded institutions to work full-time on social change, whether it’s Beyonce with the range of causes her BeyGoodorganization supports or Lady Gaga with her Born This Way Foundation’s fight against bullying. Such efforts, though, necessarily invite tough scrutiny over waste and priorities. The most fascinating example of public-service spectacle in the hip-hop world recently has come from Chance the Rapper, who has both taken political action and donated money to try and help the Chicago public school system.

Drake, as far as we see in this video, is more interested in specific, personal, and perhaps temporary interventions. He does cut checks to schools and shelters, but most of the excitement is around wads of cash, cars, and one-time shopping bonanzas. It’s a heartwarming thing, seeing people have their days suddenly improved. But the limits of such efforts are clear, and it’s telling that this is the form of giving most compatible with entertainment—whether in a rap video, a Publishers Clearing House clip, or a game show. “God’s Plan” may be, on some level, yet another celebration of one man’s success, but Drake’s art—and pop culture more broadly—insists that being self-serving can still be a form of service.

This article originally appeared on the Atlantic.

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On Saturday, the music industry (and the world as a whole) lost one of the most important figures in the history of the medium, as Chuck Berry passed away at the age of 90.

A revolutionary musician who impacted the lives of countless artists (including the late Beatles frontman quoted above), Berry rose to fame in the mid-1950’s and is known as a pioneer of the rock and roll genre.

In a time when racial tensions were high in United States, the African American artist transcended cultures and broke down barriers. Berry appealed to a wide variety of Americans and energized the youth of the country with a new style of music.

Among his catalog of hits are “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Memphis,” “My Ding-a-Ling,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” and “Johnny B. Goode.” He was known not only for his tunes and guitar skills, but the physical and energetic way in which he performed live.

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then Berry was one of the most flattered musicians in history. Everyone from the previously mentioned Beatles to the Beach Boys to Elvis and Rolling Stones covered Berry’s hits, and his music reached a new generation of fans when Marty McFly skipped around the stage while belting “Johnny B. Goode,” in Back to the Future.

The Stones were among those praising Berry in the wake of his passing as the Twitter account for the legendary rockers stated in part: “Chuck Berry was not only a brilliant guitarist, singer and performer, but most importantly, he was a master craftsman as a songwriter.”

Individually, Keith Richards shared an image of he and Berry (with the caption: “One of my big lights has gone out”) while Mick Jagger paid tribute in a series of tweets.

I am so sad to hear of Chuck Berry’s passing. I want to thank him for all the inspirational music he gave to us. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/9zQbH5bo9V

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) March 18, 2017

He lit up our teenage years, and blew life into our dreams of being musicians and performers. 2/3 #ChuckBerry

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) March 18, 2017

His lyrics shone above others & threw a strange light on the American dream. Chuck you were amazing&your music is engraved inside us forever

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) March 18, 2017

Bruce Springsteen called Berry, “rock’s greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock ‘n’ roll writer who ever lived” while Ringo Starr offered, as he so often does, “peace and love” and Brian Wilson called him a “big inspiration.”

Chuck Berry was rock’s greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock ‘n’ roll writer who ever lived.

— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) March 18, 2017

R I P. And peace and love Chuck Berry Mr. rock ‘n’ roll music pic.twitter.com/hS2S2lUORf

— #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) March 18, 2017

I am so sad to hear about Chuck Berry passing – a big inspiration! He will be missed by everyone who loves Rock ‘n Roll. Love & Mercy

— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) March 18, 2017

Further proof that Berry’s talents influenced musicians of numerous decades and genres, the likes of Rod Stewart, Gregg Allman, Peter Frampton, Questlove, Lenny Kravitz, Keith Urban, One Republic, and Rob Zombie paid their respects on social media.

It started with Chuck Berry. He inspired us all. The 1st album I bought was Chuck’s “Live at the Tivoli” and I was never the same.

— Rod Stewart (@rodstewart) March 18, 2017

The first, the best, a friend. Rest In Peace Chuck Berry. #tweet #chuckberry pic.twitter.com/5EkW8AWb0N

— Gregg Allman (@GreggAllman) March 19, 2017

He had a gtr style that influenced so many generations of players. Oh yes and how to write a great RnR song. Rest in peace dear Chuck https://t.co/bWQogYSyqw

— Peter Frampton (@peterframpton) March 18, 2017

Thou Shall Have No Other Rock Gods Before Him #ChuckBerry rip @ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame https://t.co/bU22p2cywb

— Questlove Gomez (@questlove) March 18, 2017

Hail Hail Chuck Berry!!! None of us would have been here without you. Rock on brother!

A post shared by Lenny Kravitz (@lennykravitz) on Mar 18, 2017 at 4:03pm PDT

RIP Chuck Berry !!!! Thank you for the poetry, the passion and the potency! GO JOHNNY GO. – KU

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) March 18, 2017

#RIPChuckBerry. Definition of musical legend. Thanks for rock ‘n roll.

— OneRepublic (@OneRepublic) March 18, 2017

Hail Hail Rock and Roll! #ripchuckberry

A post shared by RobZombieofficial (@robzombieofficial) on Mar 18, 2017 at 3:47pm PDT

Berry’s life and legacy also touched former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Chuck Berry rolled over everyone who came before him – and turned up everyone who came after. We’ll miss you, Chuck. Be good.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 19, 2017

Chuck Berry’s life was a treasure and a triumph, and he’ll never be forgotten. https://t.co/3Q7z0NatUd

— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) March 19, 2017

Berry was among the first class of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, but he also continued to work. On his 90th birthday, he announced a new album was in the works and it would be dedicated to his wife of 68 years, Themetta Berry.

“This record is dedicated to my beloved Toddy,” Berry said in a media release announcing the album, which will be his first LP in 38 years. “My darlin’ I’m growing old! I’ve worked on this record for a long time. Now I can hang up my shoes!”

Berry is survived by his wife, daughters Melody Exes Berry-Eskridge, Ingrid Berry and Aloha Berry, and son Charles Berry Jr.

Stay linked to Good Celebrity for all the breaking celebrity news headlines and stories about people doing good!

(Photo credit: Twitter)

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Up until the end of the month (January 31), music fans can enter for a chance to win a trip to the star-studded award show.

YOU could be a VIP at the GRAMMYs! Walk the red carpet, hang backstage and more. Support @MusiCares & ENTER: https://t.co/oFO5CloikU pic.twitter.com/GTUWOkZ1PQ

— Omaze (@omaze) January 13, 2017

All of the action is in your fingertips starting with a $10 donation. For larger donations, fans receive more entries and special prizes including a t-shirt and a collectors keychain.

Along with a trip to the Grammy’s red carpet, the grand prize includes:

• Rock out at the 59th Grammy Awards
• Rub elbows with the artists and nominees backstage
• Attend VIP events, including rehearsals, red carpets, after-parties and more
• Go home with the official GRAMMY artist gift bag
• Get flown first class to LA and put up at the JW Marriot

In addition to the Grammy experience, the prize winners will attend the 27th annual MusiCares Person of the Year gala honoring Tom Petty on Feb. 10.

Dreaming of walking the red carpet at the GRAMMY Awards? It could become a reality! Support MusiCares and ENTER: https://t.co/IqQeFOTHi3 pic.twitter.com/UutUKXFUSn

— Omaze (@omaze) January 16, 2017

MusiCares is a charity that ensures that musicians have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need by providing assistance programs and services. Benefits include financial assistance, educational workshops, flu shots, hearing tests and medical/dental screenings.

To enter the Omaze Grammy experience contest, visit the website. Also, stay linked to Good Celebrity for all the latest celebrity news from award season!

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10) Good for You (feat. A$AP Rocky) – Selena Gomez

9) Shut Up and Dance – WALK THE MOON

8) 679 (feat. Remy Boyz) – Fetty Wap

7) Cool for the Summer – Demi Lovato

6) Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar) – Taylor Swift

5) Honey, I’m Good – Andy Grammer

4) Fight Song – Rachel Platten

3) Can’t Feel My Face – The Weeknd

2) Watch Me – Silento

1) Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix) – Omi

The post Top Ten Songs of Summer 2015 appeared first on Positive Celebrity News, Good Celebrity Gossip, Positive Entertainment News | Good Celebrity.