Usher unveiled the much-anticipated song and music video for “Boyfriend,” which sees Keke Palmer as the main girl.
The new visual comes a day after they both shared a teaser clip announcing their collaboration on social media, and a month after Usher serenaded Keke at one of his Las Vegas residency shows.
While fans speculated the video would show the actress in a sexual manner, Keke’s singing and prepping for what seems to be a night out with her girls. She soon meets up with Usher at a casino where, in baggy pants, T-shirt and a jacket, she breaks out into a dance routine.
“Usher! I remember when I was 12 and auditioned for ‘In The Mix'”,” Keke wrote when the full video premiered on Wednesday, August 16. “You have been killing it all my life. As a true lover of the arts, your talent and craftsmanship are a rare combination that I aspire to achieve as a performer. You are a living legend who is worthy of awe! Thank you for encouraging me and seeing me as the entertainer I am.”
She added, “I know I’m a gUrL but when I watched your videos, I never wanted to be the girl in them, I wanted to be YOU. Thank you for making a dream come true.”
Upon previewing the video the day before its release, fans pointed to the duo’s marketing strategy saying that capitalizing on their viral moment — and the backlash Keke’s boyfriend, Darius Jackson, received for calling her out about it — was “genius.”
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