AFROMUSION VIDEO REVIEW: I’M IN LOVE WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND, BY JAYSO AND SARKODIE, FT. EFYA

Sarkodie and Jayso have collaborated to create the TMG (The Mind Game) album. So far, such songs, including 'Pizza and Burgers' ( which was nominated for a 2013 Ghana Music Award), and 'Let'Em Know', have been released with accompanying videos. Sarkodie and Jayso's latest video release is for the song , 'I'm in Love with Your Girlfriend'.

The song, in and of itself, is about a guy being in love with someone's girlfriend. The full track can be heard here: http://www.hulkshare.com/thfcrijdg45c. In the song, a guy is telling a woman that he 'can't force himself to love' her because he has tried and tried, but the feeling is not the same for her. However, her girlfriend, is the one he is feeling and the one who makes his heart skip a beat. In the song, not only does the guy tell the woman that he is not in love with her, but his girlfriend also tells her as well. The girlfriend he is in love with knows that her best friend is in love with her boyfriend, telling her that 'he can not force himself to love' her and that the girl should not live a lie, telling her that she is his girlfriend and that no other girl can make him feel the way she does.

Did you follow all of that? Good.
Sometimes hearing a song and seeing the video for a song are two different things. Jayso and Sarkodie have taken the 'Im in Love With Your Girlfriend' song and created a completely extreme concept . In the video, which is a mini-movie, there are various story lines threaded throughout the video.

The video opens up with Jayso, Efya,and Chantelle A. ('Abena') sitting in a fancy restaurant, celebrating Efya's birthday, and enjoying the sweet Kasapreko Kasa Vino wine. The viewers can hear Abena singing the Happy Birthday song in a weird funny tone, but it seems as if she refuses to say Efya's name during the song. In the next screen shot, the lovely Chantelle, playing the character of 'Abena' and Jayso can be seen assisting Efya with the cutting of her birthday cake, and Efya exclaims that she is so delighted to be with two of her favorite people-her best friend and her boyfriend.

While Efya is thanking her man, Jayso, for a pleasant birthday, Abena is seen squeezing her face in disgust. While celebrating the joyous occasion, Abena starts caressing the thigh of Jayso, rapidly, and Jayso responds by spitting out his wine on his red and black blazer. Having received the response she wanted, Abena follows Jayso to the bathroom, leaving the birthday girl, Efya, alone, and in disbelief.

All of this happens before the song even begins.
As the song begins, Jayso is viewed in bed with a woman and his red blazer is resting on a chair. While he is telling a woman that he is in love with someone else, the video shows clips of his shoes, his jacket, a purse, and the necklace and dress Efya was wearing to the birthday party. Therefore, it is obvious that Efya is the girl resting in bed with him, although her face is still hidden. While Jayso is singing about his girlfriend makes his heart skip a beat, his girlfriend is busy caressing his chest, with red finger nails. But the most interesting thing about her hands, the same hands caressing his chest, is the ring she wears on her thumb. It appears that she is wearing a ring that is in the shape of a pistol, and the pistol is pointed directly at Jayso's head.

After singing the chorus , 'I'm in Love with your girlfriend, she's in love with me', the viewers see Efya's face, as she confronts her best friend ,Abena, on the phone, much to the shock of Abena. While Efya is busy singing about how she is the best thing for Jayso, Abena can be seen, resting in bed, drinking away her sorrow, while listening to Efya on the phone.

During the middle of the night, the music stops, and while Jayso is resting peacefully in bed with the girl he is in love with (Efya), Efya sneaks out of bed and makes a phone call, in which she tells the listener to 'go get that girl'.

In the next scene, Abena, who is shown resting peacefully on her bed, after enjoying a glass of Alomo Bitters, is kidnapped by an unknown person. By the time she reemerges, she is seen, tied up, sitting by herself, in the middle of nowhere, in her lingerie, with a bruised eye.

The music restarts, and the viewers are introduced to Sarkodie, the leader of the bad guys. Sarkodie basically tells her that she is wasting her time on Jayso, because obviously he doesn't want her and she is making a fool out of herself. Meanwhile, Efya is standing next to Sarkodie, in a bright red and black dress, making it obvious that she was in charge of the kidnapping. The color 'red' is relevant throughout the video. In the beginning of the video, Jayso was seen wearing a red blazer, the word 'love' is highlighted in red in the title, Efya's nails are red, and Abena's pillows are red.

While Sarkodie is telling Abena his piece of mind, Abena sits there, listening to him with a smirk on her face, because she can see that the police are about to save her. Also, surprisingly, Jayso, is a police officer, possibly the chief of police. When the police confront the bad guys, Jayso looks at his girl, Efya. As Jayso hastily unties Abena from the ropes she is tied in, and lovingly enwraps her in his jacket, the only thing Abena says is, 'I told you so'.

Wait!! What is she talking about? We never saw her having a conversation with Jayso, so what is she referring to? Did the viewers miss a scene?

Right when these thoughts are going through the minds of the viewers, the music video goes into rewind mode, back to the very beginning, when Jayso excuses himself from the table to go clean his jacket. As Jayso enters the bathroom to clean up, Abena confidently strolls into the mens' bathroom, ensures that the stalls are empty, and tries to make a move onto Jayso. Jayso, being the pleasant man that he is, does not entertain her, but seems quite shocked when Abena brings up the topic of the diamonds. Diamonds, what diamonds? Diamonds from where and from whom?

Then the video ends.
This video leaves the viewers asking many questions, such as: What diamonds? Where did Jayso get the diamonds from and why does he have access to the diamonds- are they his personal diamonds or did he steal them from an evidence room? How does Efya know he has diamonds? How did Efya even meet Jayso? How did Abena find out about the diamonds? Did Efya befriend Jayso for the diamonds? Was the kidnapping planned by Abena to prove to Jayso that Efya was a bad person? If the kidnapping was planned by Abena, what is going to happen to Efya and Sarkodie, assuming that they are arrested? Now that Efya will be arrested, presumably, will Jayso now fall in love with his girlfriend's (Efya) girlfriend (Abena)? Did the kidnapping happen on the same night after Efya's birthday, and if so how did Abena plan with Jayso so fast, if it was planned/

There are so many questions to be answered. This video can easily become a trilogy, very much the same way singer R.Kelly makes music videos which turn into connected mini-movies .

The 'I'm in Love with Your Girlfriend' video entertains viewers but it also leaves them asking many questions in their head. Produced by 3rd Channel Direct, sponsored by Kasapreko Company Limited, and directed by 6miludo Media / Clockork Media , the 'I'm in Love with your Girlfriend' video is quite complex and somewhat of a cliffhanger.

Luckily, Jayso and Sarkodie's TMG Album still has unreleased songs, so hopefully, they will address the unanswered questions in an upcoming song. Jayso and Sarkodie obviously work well together, and each video they make collectively brings something new to the table. Each video becomes more and more complex, making the viewers watch each video more closely, in order to catch and interpret the symbolic themes strategically placed within the videos.

We will all patiently have to wait for the next Jayso and Sarkodie video, while wondering, 'what diamonds'?