Benson Boone has clearly had it with the internet calling him a one-hit wonder. So, like any artist with a sense of humor and just enough self-confidence to lean into the noise, he turned the insult into art — or at least something joyfully close to it. “Mr Electric Blue,” the latest video from his debut album American Heart, is Boone’s most self-aware, weirdly charming move yet. And it works, not in spite of its absurdity, but because of it.
The video opens like a surreal short film: Boone, wearing a “One Hit Wonder” T-shirt, strolls into a fake label meeting at the fictional “Industry Plant Records.” His agent (played by real-life songwriting partner Jack LaFrantz) delivers a brutal reality check: the backflips aren’t selling, neither is “moonbeam ice cream,” and maybe, just maybe, it’s time for Boone to try actual songwriting. Boone’s deadpan response — “You know I can’t do that” — sets the tone for a video that walks a delicate line between parody and autobiography.
When the track kicks in, Benson Boone takes on a series of odd jobs to pay back a ludicrous $10 million debt to the label. What follows is a string of comedic set pieces that not only skewer the industry but also mock Boone’s own perceived limitations. And when the skit resumes after the music ends — revealing that his catalog has been sold off to “retail chains, fast food chains, and movie theaters” — Boone’s stunned acceptance is both hilarious and uncomfortably believable. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Yes!”
It’s a bizarre little masterpiece of pop self-satire. Think early-2000s MTV meets Gen Z nihilism, with just enough irony to keep it from feeling like damage control. Boone isn’t pretending to be something he’s not — if anything, he’s finally owning what he is: a guy with a massive voice, a couple viral hits, and a talent for not taking himself too seriously.
But with American Heart, Boone is proving he’s more than the punchline. “Mr Electric Blue” is a sly statement of intent dressed up as a joke — a funny, self-deprecating, visually inventive video that also subtly says: if you think this is all I’ve got, watch again.