Gym Class Heroes： Cupid's Chokehold ft. Patrick Stump - Gym Class Heroes： Cupid's Chokehold ft. Patrick Stump

2006

Gym Class Heroes： Cupid's Chokehold ft. Patrick Stump - Gym Class Heroes： Cupid's Chokehold ft. Patrick Stump (2006) Director: Alan Ferguson Era: Mid-2000s Pop-Punk / Emo-Adjacent Crossover (2006) - Peak era of Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance label dominance; rap-rock hybrids crossing over to mainstream pop radio via TRL and MTV rotation, bridging underground alternative scenes with chart ubiquity. High curatorial value as a definitive artifact of mid-2000s Fueled By Ramen crossover culture and the TRL-era music video aesthetic. Represents the intersection of rap-rock, emo-adjacent pop, and mainstream rom-com visual storytelling. Documents Alan Ferguson's mid-career commercial voice before his later Grammy-winning work. The video's chart performance (#4 Billboard Hot 100) and heavy MTV/VH1 rotation cement its significance as a pop-cultural touchstone of 2006–2007. Context: Released in late 2006, this video represents a pivotal moment in the Fueled By Ramen / Decaydance ecosystem's mainstream crossover. The song's interpolation of Supertramp's 1979 'Breakfast in America' bridged classic rock familiarity with mid-2000s rap-rock, enabling crossover to pop radio audiences. The video's rom-com narrative structure and warm, accessible aesthetic reflect the era's MTV/VH1 formatting needs, approachable, humorous, and character-driven content engineered for TRL-era repeat viewing. The Decaydance label's culture of cameos between roster artists (e.g., Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy appearing in the video) was a defining promotional strategy of the period, creating a shared extended universe that reinforced fan loyalty across acts. Director notes: This is Version 2 of 'Cupid's Chokehold,' the officially released and MTV/VH1-aired video, directed by Alan Ferguson for the album 'As Cruel as School Children' (re-released November 4, 2006). Production company: Anonymous Content. Producer: Jacqui Frisco. Editor: Megan Brennan @ Company X. Ferguson also served as Director of Photography. The video premiered November 27, 2006, per IMVDb. The video is a more literal, narrative interpretation of the song's lyrics compared to the original 2005 version directed by Andrew Paul Bowser. It follows Travie McCoy through a series of Cupid-mediated romantic misadventures.