Ironically, Jason French's big hit "You Just Want My Money" was written when he was down and out. His first record deal, signed when he was just 22, had fallen through, and he was working construction.
He was dead broke, and started dedicating all his free time to songwriting.
"I went into the darkest place I've ever been in," says French, now 26. "It felt like all my dreams, everything I'd worked for, was just completely over." When a longtime music-industry acquaintance, Chris Anokute, reached out and asked if he had any new music, French handed over "You Just Want My Money" — and soon landed his deal with Interscope Records. His full-length debut is out later this year.
In the new video for the track, premiering exclusively on BuzzFeed Music, French meets a woman who ... isn't.
They have fun at first, but French realizes soon enough that she's a robot who runs on his credit card. She doesn't want his love, she just wants his money.
She frequently breaks down and waits for him to swipe his card in a machine implanted on her back.
"You Just Want My Money" racked up 7 million streams its first month on Spotify and 80 million impressions on Vine. Not sure exactly how much money that adds up to, but French doesn't want to part with it. He wants someone to want him. By video's end, he finds that special someone.