Fergie - Clumsy

What this video is

Released as the fifth single from Fergie's debut album The Dutchess on September 25, 2007, 'Clumsy' arrived at the apex of the Black Eyed Peas extended solo-crossover moment, when will.i.am's production aesthetic was defining mainstream US pop. The song samples Little Richard's 1956 'The Girl Can't Help It,' anchoring a 2007 pop sensibility to a 1960s rock-and-roll lineage that the video reinforces through mod…

Why it matters

A textbook artifact of mid-2000s bubblegum pop maximalism, 'Clumsy' demonstrates the era's appetite for ironic retro-sampling (Little Richard via will.i.am production), high-concept video storytelling, and the fusion of fashion-world spectacle with comedic narrative. The pop-up book format…

The director

Marc Webb (b. Aug 31, 1974, Bloomington, IN) directed 100+ music videos (1997–2009) for artists including Green Day, My Chemical Romance, and Fergie, earning a 2006 Music Video Production Association Director of the Year Award before transitioning to…