Mike WiLL Made It‘s “23” may be just one digit off from Taylor Swift‘s “22,” but the songs — and their videos — could not be more different. For the former, which was released on Tuesday, Sept. 24, the music producer joined forces with Miley Cyrus, Juicy J, and Wiz Khalifa to film a sexy, smoky, high-school-themed video with prominent shout-outs to Michael Jordan (who wore No. 23 for the Chicago Bulls).
Cyrus — who has already made headlines this week for her topless Rolling Stone cover — bares lots of skin here, too. She starts the video in nothing but a bikini made out of Jordan’s famous jersey, and a white letterman jacket with her name printed on the sleeve. Shots of her smoking and writing on a bathroom mirror are interspersed with shots of the other stars rapping and taking over the school.
Later in the clip, the 20-year-old “Wrecking Ball” songstress changes into a Bulls-inspired minidress that looks like Julia Roberts’ racy frock at the beginning of Pretty Woman. She can also be seen dancing with a foam finger (a la her VMAs performance) on top of the bleachers.
“It’s basically like a pep rally,” Mike WiLL told Rap-Up TV of the video. “I’m this kid at school and we play a trick on the principal. The principal leaves his office, I go in there and over the intercom start playing ’23.’ It just turns up the whole school.”
He added: “Miley’s like the hot chick in the school. Juicy’s like the dude that’s messing with all the teachers, the super senior. And then we got Wiz in there. He’s in the chemistry lab, he’s high as hell. The video gets trippy when he comes up.”
The roles in the video parallel the celebs’ real-life roles in the music industry, he explained. “Juicy J’s been in the game for the longest, and he’s still going. Wiz is that stoner that’s just coming in different on his own wave. And then Miley’s like the hot chick. And me — I’m like the new kid that kinda took over the game and just brought everybody together.”
The song “23” will appear on Mike WiLL Made It’s upcoming debut album Est. In 1989 Pt. 3. He also collaborated with Cyrus on her hit song “We Can’t Stop.”
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