The Afterparty's Xavier Drops New Music Video And Launches Website, All While Being A Fictional Character
Step aside Olivia Rodrigo, the newest pop icon has arrived and he's... Dave Franco?! In an odd turn of events, Apple TV+ just dropped a banger track, "Imma Live Forever," from pop sensation Xavier, a character in the streamer's new murder-mystery comedy series, "The Afterparty."
This is a lot to unpack, so I'll start from the beginning. "The LEGO Movie" and "21 Jump Street" directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are back with their latest collaboration, a new series for Apple TV+ that features a ridiculously stacked cast, all playing suspects in a genre-bending murder mystery. Sam Richardson, Ilana Glazer, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Jamie Demetriou, Zoë Chao, and more star as former high school friends attending a reunion party hosted by former classmate, Xavier (Franco). Other than being an insufferable general jerk, Xavier is also a mega-famous pop sensation — hence, the song. Because reunion parties tend to bring up regrets and long-buried emotions, the night goes disastrously and eventually ends in a murder that Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) shows up to solve.
Xavier is larger than life and apparently, larger than fiction, so Apple has just released his hit single "Imma Live Forever," along with a maddening music video. It's everything you expect from a popstar, in all the most hilarious ways. If you haven't already gotten a chance to check out "The Afterparty," just sit back and soak in the dulcet tones and occasional skrrt, skrrt's of Xavier's music stylings.
Xavier's Music Video
What's that you say? You're now Xavier's #1 fan? You're a... Xtan?! Well, in that case, you probably want to check out his new website, which features tour dates (all cancelled), lots of merch (all sold out), and a chatroom with some mildly disturbing stories and very weird vibes. Oh, and don't forget to check out the three other songs that Franco — I mean, Xavier — released, too.
There's something else you should probably know, dear Xavier fan: I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the final statement of that music video was no joke. Xavier, AKA Eugene Xavier Duckworth Jr., bites the dust early on in "The Afterparty" and becomes the body at the center of its mystery.
You can see why they need a whole eight episodes to solve this one — the list of people who want Xavier dead is long. He says so himself in the song's lyrics: "Got some enemies, bet you wanna push me off a balcony." Maybe his lyrics should've been less specific, because it kinda sounds like this song was the direct inspiration for his murder. Per Apple, here's a series synopsis:
A genre-defying series centered on a murder mystery at a high school reunion, with each episode exploring a different character's account of the fateful evening in question, all through the lens of popular film genres and unique visuals to match the storyteller's perspective.
Christopher Miller serves as creator, showrunner, and executive producer of "The Afterparty" with collaborator Phil Lord also serving as executive producer. The first three episodes are currently available to stream on AppleTV+, with additional episodes airing weekly on Fridays. The first episode of the series is also available to stream for free on YouTube.