Executive Producer

Dave Free

Dave Free and&nbsp;Kendrick Lamar direct a poignant performance promo for Count Me Out.&nbsp;We meet&nbsp;Kendrick by his piano, deep in thought until he is interrupted by his therapist - played by the inimitable Helen Mirren - who encourages him to continue his session.&nbsp;The video then splits off into a series of abstract vignettes, which each artistically interpret the lyrics into something photographic and emotionally stirring.&nbsp;The composition is also inspired, placing intimate shots of Mirren and Lamar on opposing sides of the frame, in the manner of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triptych" target="_blank">triptych in medieval art</a>,&nbsp;allowing viewers to take in the emotions from both sides, whilst experiencing the vignettes in the middle.Brilliant work, with a moving message.&nbsp;

United States

Kendrick Lamar

pgLang

project3

Jason Baum

Jamie Rabineau

Adam Newport-Berra

Christopher Ripley

Kenneth Taylor

Eric Hersey

Taylor McNeill

Shannon Stokes

Charm La'Donna

Jenn Hanching

Emily Cheng

Nikki Nelms

Khristien “Khristn” Ray

Mikey Rossiter

Tryptyc

Neal Farmer

Michelle An

Chris Gann

Hip Hop

Kendrick Lamar 'Count Me Out' by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar - Count Me Out

Following the brilliant intensity of <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2022/05/10/kendrick-lamar-heart-part-5-dave-free-kendrick-lamar/76299" target="_blank">The Heart Part 5</a>, something less intense but hardly less brilliant for N95 - another track from Kendrick Lamar's much anticipated and already much-dissected new album Mr Morale &amp; The Big Steppers.As per, it's directed by Kendrick and Dave Free. And a series of powerful vignettes are beautifully photographed by DoP&nbsp;Adam Newport-Berra, with VFX work completed at Ethos Studio.&nbsp;[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2]&nbsp;[imgtoken data:3]

Nathan Scherrer

freenjoy

Freyja Bardell

Sean “Speedy” Christopher

Dianne Garcia

Ethos Studio

Brandon Loulias

Kendrick Lamar 'N95' by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar - N95

It's been a long time coming, but it's been worth the wait. The first proper music video by Kendrick Lamar in ages comes with the burden of following the greatness that has preceded it. But this one... it's that rare moment when you sense something very special has happened. A culturally significant, transcendent work of visual Art.Yes, music videos can be Art. Easy to forget. Yet with The Heart Part 5, Kendrick Lamar and&nbsp;Dave Free - the old Little Homies team, now openly credited - have shown that there is the potential to harness the medium to elevate the message onto a new level. That should be incredibly inspiring - to musicians, filmmakers, and simply everyone who watches it.&nbsp;They have done so by using cutting edge VFX - the use of deepfake&nbsp;technology,&nbsp;created by Deep Voodoo, is fantastic. Kendrick transforms into a series of famous Black men - starting with&nbsp;OJ Simpson, moving on to&nbsp;Kanye, Nipsey Hustle, Kobe Bryant, Colin Kaepernick, Will Smith - visual portrayals that, in the case of Nipsey Hustle,&nbsp;are reflected in his words.We have seen some very good deepfakery&nbsp;before, mitigating against the absolute originality of the concept (and accusations of plagiarism have already started). But ultimately, it's all about the simplicity, the aesthetics, the timing, and above all, the spellbinding performance. Kendrick is so great in this. The occasionally imperfect lipsync makes it even better. And for good measure, he's rapping over&nbsp;Marvin Gaye's I Want You. An&nbsp;instant classic.[imgtoken data:1][imgtoken data:2][imgtoken data:3]&nbsp;

DEEP VOODOO

Bashir Taylor

Khristien 'Khristn' Ray

Kendrick Lamar 'The Heart Part 5' by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Part 5

New York is Baby Keem's playground, in Dave Free's video for Orange Soda - shot on a variety of film formats.

Natan Schottenfels

Iconoclast

Lindsey Gardner

Ed Hellman

Christoper Ripley

Nick Wiesner

Emma Penrose

Danny Maldonado

Pele Kudren

Jack Begert

Paul Yacano

Courtenay Johnson

Lia Mayer-Sommer

Walter Pictures

Baby Keem 'Orange Soda' by Dave Free

Baby-Keem--'Orange-Soda'-by-Dave-Free

Dave Free&#39;s latest directing foray sees him swapping his usual Little Homies partner Kendrick Lamar for Jack Begert, to tell a hard-boiled, Coens-esque tale of bungled criminal enterprise for Jay Rock&#39;s OSOM, featuring J Cole.Both artists feature as the criminal partners in a story which begins after the robbery which has not gone entirely to plan. With most of the money stashed away in the motel room&#39;s air vent - a nod to No Country For Old Men, perhaps - they go their separate ways to stew, and neither can shake the ominous feeling that they are being watched.&nbsp;No prizes for guessing this all goes wrong in the end. But in the meantime Free and Begert&nbsp;boldly sketch the lives of the Rock and Cole characters, as regular guys who have slid into crime, and must now face the dire consequences.

Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith

Tay Hawes

Angel J Rosa

TDE Films

AJR Films

Jay Rock ft J Cole 'OSOM' by Dave Free & Jack Begert

Jay Rock - OSOM ft. J. Cole

Another week, another great Kendrick Lamar video... Okay, this one is for Jay Rock, featuring Kendrick and Future, but it is certainly the latest of that&nbsp;consistently brilliant portfolio of jawdropping visuals&nbsp;to accompany the Compton maestro&#39;s music - this from the Black Panther soundtrack project&nbsp;- that originates out of his TDE operation.In this case, it&#39;s directed by&nbsp;Dave Free - one half of The Little Homies with Lamar -&nbsp;and Jack Begert, who capture their artists in a series of scenarios that zoom out - and keep zooming out, to reveal they have been shot on extraordinary long lenses.The effect, when the rappers are revealed to be on separate rooftops in the LA skyline, is like a paranoid thriller from the 70s. But overall the effect is too smart and fastmoving to be taken too seriously. There&#39;s a great stockmarket trader scenario that is like The Wolf Of Wall Street meets Hammer &amp; Tongs REM video Imitation of Life. Kendrick and Jay start out in a palm tree, and then it ends with Kendrick directing traffic on a very busy LA intersection. Please never try this...&nbsp;&nbsp;In all of this, huge kudos must go to DoP Christopher Ripley, who used robot rigs in a wholly new way, and also shot on ridiculously high res 8K to achieve these impossibly long zoom shots. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/kendrick-lamar-kings-dead-music-video-zooms-black-panther-a8220841.html" target="_blank">He has spoken to The Independent about what went into achieving the shots&nbsp;on the King&#39;s Dead video</a>&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;a&nbsp;must-read.

Anthony 'Top Dawg' Tiffith

Levon Davis

Jonas Morales

Cody Fusina

Tyler Sobel-Mason

Bryan Smaller

Company 3

Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, James Blake 'King's Dead' by Dave Free & Jack Begert

Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, James Blake - King's Dead

Kendrick Lamar unites with Rihanna, and reunites with Dave Meyers, to create a brilliant visual feast that does not just&nbsp;rival the powerful HUMBLE., it&#39;s even bigger, even better. LOYALTY. is just awesome.First of all, the spectacular visual ideas are more jaw-dropping, and the VFX superlative. And then there&#39;s another dimension - the easy, increasingly steamy chemistry between Kendrick and Rihanna, who swagger across these jaw-dropping scenes like natural superheroes.This delivers on its promise on every level -&nbsp;it&#39;s a blockbuster, without the boring bits.&nbsp;As they say at some point, &#39;It&#39;s hard to be humble...&#39;

Dave Meyers

The Little Homies

Kendrick Lamar ft Rihanna 'LOYALTY.' by Dave Meyers and The Little Homies

Kendrick Lamar - LOYALTY. ft. Rihanna

Jonas Lindstroem &amp; the ever-present Little Homies direct an artful juxtaposition of violence and peace in this latest Kendrick Lamar clip.Feeling like a slower and more meditative version of Kendrick&#39;s HUMBLE. video, we&#39;re presented with harrowing slow motion violence, gorgeously shot and cut against images of nuns at prayer and a couple in bed. Weighing up the fight itself against the things worth fighting for by using smart cuts between powerful images. An intelligent and incisive video from one of the sharpest minds in rap.

Jonas Lindstroem

Jannis Birsner

Houmam Abdallah

Rebecca Boorsma

MPC LA

Kendrick Lamar 'ELEMENT.' by Jonas Lindstroem & The Little Homies

Kendrick Lamar - ELEMENT.

Don Cheadle hooks Kendrick Lamar up to the lie detector - which proves to be a bad move for him, and just the start of a stunning video by Nabil,&nbsp;aided by The Little Homies, of course, for DNA.

Nabil

Aftermath

Interscope Records

Top Dawg Entertainment

Kendrick Lamar 'DNA' by Nabil & The Little Homies

Kendrick Lamar - DNA.

Ryan Staake&#39;s video for Schoolboy Q follows the humble marijuana plant in its life cycle from harvest, to buyer and the many channels, deals and deaths that have to go along with that.It&#39;s an interesting POV video that makes the object in question the main character in the narrative - carrying on an aesthetic that <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2016/07/27/schoolboy-q-john-muir-aplus">APLUS started with their John Muir video</a>&nbsp;a few months back.

Ryan Staake

Ryan Huffman

Kevin Staake

Pomp &amp; Clout

Ryen Bartlett

David Ledwith

Kristian Zuniga

Mario Mascetti

Chris Gould

Clayton Beisner (la)

Zebah Pinkman (ny)

Jessica Galvan (ny)

Cherokee Neas (la)

Ryosuke Tanzawa

David Torcivia

Aaron Vinton

Mark Bridges

Interscope

Schoolboy Q ft. E-40 'Dope Dealer' by Ryan Staake 

Schoolboy-Q-Ft.-E-40-'Dope-Dealer'-by-Ryan-Staake-

Directing unit&nbsp;Aplusfilmz - that&rsquo;s the brothers Edwin and Fredo Tovar and Scott Fleischman &ndash;&nbsp;give us a drive-by view of the cyclical nature of street crime in America in this brilliant clip for ScHoolBoy Q. Opening with a poignant quote from Punch and a very quick flash-forward, we follow the story of a car over a 24 hour period,&nbsp;and the two young men who use the vehicle&nbsp;for various criminal activities.With a camera in a fixed position on the side of the car, the&nbsp;viewers&nbsp;becomes both distanced and helpless voyeurs of the ensuing action - effectively a cycle of violence&nbsp;begetting violence repeats over and over again.Faces are blank or blurred, as actions become key here; it&#39;s almost impossible to have an identity as anything other than a criminal - and so nothing ever changes.&nbsp;Aplus really help to tell a powerful story in a time when these conversations are necessary.&bull; Interview with Aplusfilmz about the making of the ScHoolBoy Q &#39;JoHn Muir&#39; video on <a href="http://thehundreds.com/blog/interview-aplusfilmz-crew-behind-schoolboy-q-john-muir-video/" target="_blank">The Hundreds</a>

Dave Free

Executive Producer

Videos featuring Dave Free

2022 (3)

2019 (1)

2018 (2)

2017 (3)

2016 (2)

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