Shia LaBeouf Directed Kid Cudi's New Video

Vulture, Thursday, June 2, 2011, 6:45am (PDT)

Yesterday, Vulture directed your attention to "Perfect Is the Word," the first explicit rock song from the wanderlusting Kid Cudi.

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Well, it was a busy day for Cudder: With the release of the music video for "Marijuana," from last year's Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (never gets old!), he also gave fans a taste of the old style.

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The clip is a grainy travelogue that follows a smokey Cudi through catered kitchen parties to Amsterdam hotel room hang sessions to showtime, and it would have garnered a noncommittal "hmmm" before being forgotten about forever if it weren't for the fact that this particular music video was directed by ... movie star Shia LaBeouf. As you may recall, LaBeouf also directed the music video for Cage's pretty great 2009 track "I Never Knew You," and ended up producing a fairly ambitious stalker tale full of CGI rain clouds and recognizable actors (hello, Cougar Town's Dan Byrd!).

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This time, though, it feels like Shia just wanted to roll with the crew; also, if the particulars of his mirror cameo at 3:17 are not misleading, he shot the whole thing on a Flipcam. Further cause for confusion: LaBeouf and Cage are buddies (LaBeouf has at various points talked about starring in a biopic of the troubled emcee), but this is the first we're hearing of Cudi and Shia's bromance. Hopefully, though, it means the How to Make It in America thespian will now get more Hollywood chances through his well-connected pal. Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Lonely Stoner?

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