Building on the growing arsenal of singles and videos that Paris Hilton has thus far released from her second album, Infinite Icon, “ADHD” marks the fourth single from the record. And, noticeably, it’s the first single to not rely on a feature from someone more legitimate in the music industry to buttress it (with “I’m Free,” it was Rina Sawayama; with “Chasin,” it was Meghan Trainor; with “BBA,” it was Megan Thee Stallion). As such, it makes sense that Hilton would pull out even more stops than usual for the video, directed by photographer/graphic designer Brian Ziff (who was responsible for Hilton’s album cover visuals, and has previously worked with the likes of Cardi B and Rico Nasty on other photoshoots).
To mimic the “vibe” of what it feels like to have ADHD, the video immediately starts with a frenetic barrage of various images behind Hilton as she starts to get overwhelmed by all the thoughts she’s having—all the synapses that are firing back and forth. She then appears against a black backdrop (as though to indicate that the noise has briefly quieted) wearing light-up fairy wings (or butterfly, depending on your personal preference). Indeed, Hilton is known to wear such a winged prop for various events and photo opportunities, but, in truth, her fellow 00s icon, Britney Spears, has always been the one with the fairy fetish. And, speaking of Spears, “ADHD” definitely bears the sound of a cheesy Spears ballad from one of her earlier albums (think: “Don’t Let Me Be The Last to Know”)—though it clearly wants to believe it qualifies as being of an “Everytime” caliber (Spears’ strongest ballad, unquestionably).
On the subject of “Everytime,” the video for “ADHD” also does its best to convey a certain “mental illness steez.” This being played up by a slew of dancers outfitted in white lace body stockings and matching face coverings that lend a “creepy” (for Paris Hilton standards) aura as they writhe and wriggle erratically in a manner intended to connote the manic nature of ADHD (though it kind of looks like the similarly erratic choreography from Jennifer Lopez’s “Hearts and Flowers” segment in This Is Me… Now: A Love Story). This happening as she “belts out,” “Sometimes I can’t deny it/So I just keep on trying/Sometimes I wanna crumble/Sometimes I’m gonna stumble/My mind is always running/Sometimes I feel like crying.”
In the end, of course, she realizes that her “superpower” all along has been ADHD. Not a curse, but a blessing that makes her see and process the world in a much more “special” way than everyone else (well, that and being an Aquarius). Hilton remarks upon this “special,” extrasensory worldview right at the outset of her memoir, Paris, when she says, “Dr. Edward Hallowell, author of Driven to Distraction, says the ADHD brain is like a Ferrari with bicycle brakes: powerful but difficult to control. My ADHD makes me lose my phone, but it also makes me who I am, so if I’m going to love my life, I have to love my ADHD.” Of course, it’s also easy to love one’s life—ADHD or not—when they have oodles of cash, but anyway…
While some might be wondering what a Lolitacore aesthetic (rampant throughout the video) has to do with ADHD, they obviously don’t understand that “looking hot” is not out of the question for such a serious subject matter. As Hilton also notes in her memoir, “My brain chemistry craves sensory input. Sounds, images, puzzles, art, motion, experiences—everything that triggers adrenaline or endorphins—that’s all as necessary as oxygen for the ADHD brain.” That certainly explains the barrage of sensory overloaded, sexually charged images in “ADHD,” complete with Hilton also seeming to take some inspo from Spears’ 1999 Rolling Stone photoshoot with David LaChapelle, especially via her “boudoir” scenes being punctuated by pink hues and satin sheets (on another side note: LaChapelle directed the abovementioned “Everytime” video).
Other “scenarios” in the video find Hilton standing in the middle of a hall of mirrors or against a black backdrop seemingly projecting “vintage” scenes from the 00s (there even appears to be a moment where Lindsay Lohan is projected on one of the screens behind her—unless, of course, it’s just a lookalike. And yet, it wouldn’t be out of the question considering Hilton recently said she wouldn’t rule out doing a remix song with Lohan à la Charli and Lorde).
She serves more Britney imagery by perching on a swing in a style that harkens back to Spears in the “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” video…and Lana Del Rey during the “Video Games” portion of any live show she plays. Granted, Paris’ “special swing” has a giant half-moon decoration on it and, in contrast to Britney and Lana, Paris is, naturally, sporting more Lolitacore lingerie while on it.
As for the continuation of subliminally projected images behind her that seem to borrow from TMZ’s vault of 00s footage, there’s another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it image in particular that shows Paris on the illustrious November night in 2006 (you can tell by the outfit) when her photo was snapped thousands of times as she drove away from the Beverly Hills Hotel with Spears and Lohan in tow. And so, perhaps projecting these images of the past behind her in a fast-paced, extremely subconscious way is meant to prove another point about ADHD from her book: “Because my attention span is limited, I don’t see time as linear; the ADHD brain processes past, present and future as a Spirograph of interconnected events…” Either that or she knows that playing up her 00s era at any chance she gets will always be her bread and butter (“Is butter a carb?”).
It also seems as though Hilton has been of the belief that ADHD is a superpower for a while now, having immortalized that thought in her memoir with the declaration, “Some of us have discovered that ADHD is our superpower.” So clearly, the lyrics have been brewing for quite some time. Though she seems to have lifted the uber narcissistic line, “My superpower was right inside, see/So thank you to me/Thank you to me/Thank you to me,” from Snoop Dogg accepting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018. Or Meghan Trainor on this year’s “I Wanna Thank Me,” which samples Niecy Nash’s Emmy award acceptance speech (itself ostensibly inspired by Snoop). But, occasionally narcissistic or not, Hilton wants everyone to know that ADHD is what got her to where she is today, not winning the birth lottery.
