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Top Dawg Entertainment

Omar Jones, director of impressive videos for the likes of Pusha T, Isaiah Rashad ft Lil Uzi Vert and Doechii - and recently signed to Riff Raff Films in London - has confronted the subject of mental health head-on in his stunning video for LA hip-hop artist Ab-Soul.The rapper took a six year break from music as a result of mental health issues that led him to attempt suicide. In the video for Do Better, Jones and Ab-Soul actually recreate this suicide attempt, where he fell from a building resulting in serious injury and sight loss.It is a tough subject that Jones handles with both sensitivity and flair, with the brilliant use of visual effects within the almost fragile black and white aesthetic. Most importantly, the dignity and humanity of Ab-Soul shines through. You really do get a sense of him coming to terms with&nbsp;his life, disability and all, and in spire of everything, being in a better place.[imgtoken data:1]OMAR JONES"Moosa Tiffith from TDE initially came to me wanting the video for Do Better&nbsp;to be based on a real tragic event in Soul’s life. The fact that part of his story was being revealed in this video meant it had to be portrayed correctly and lensed using an autobiographical approach. Moosa’s close friendship with Soul was instrumental in making sure there was an open line of communication between me and Soul. This was a delicate story to entrust to a stranger at the time, and his involvement made Soul comfortable."I felt a deep sense of responsibility, not only to Soul, but to all who struggle with their mental health, and deal with thoughts of suicide. In the end, the song’s message is a positive one, encouraging people to face themselves and focus on their self-improvement. Soul faces loss, regret, depression but emerges stronger on the other side.[imgtoken data:2]<blockquote>The hardest part was to ask Soul to revisit the darkest moments of his past. I felt the weight of every shot...</blockquote>"The video shows what one sees on their way down, the moments that lead up to it, Soul’s constant conflict with the burden of the past and alternate realities surrounding the decision to jump. What does one see in those final moments? How does the world appear from such a heavy perspective? It’s hard to even begin to imagine, but my approach uses a non-chronological edit and flow to evoke the brain frantically reaching for any memory it can (while it can), while the concept of time completely shifts."Shooting it was tough. Because the video is based on true events, the hardest part for me was to ask Soul to revisit the darkest moments of his past. I felt the weight of every shot and tried to share some of that emotional load as the director. During the ledge scene, I had Soul thirteen stories up, looking down at the drop. He was secured with wires, yet it still felt like the longest shot of my life. I couldn’t wait to yell 'cut'. Throughout the shoot, he was extremely collaborative and willing to explore every option. I am humbled and grateful for Soul's trust. In his words: 'I’ve cried enough about it, so I’m choosing to laugh now.' "

United States

Omar Jones

David Wept

Farah Idress

Sixtwentysix Productions

Anthony 'Top Dawg' Tiffith

Anthony 'Moosa' Tiffith Jr

Austin Barbera

George Solomon

Kristian Zuniga

Spencer Wood

Emilio Fermin

Vatche Giragossian

Ron Dabach

Lucca Liberal

Mills Ticket Casting

Cynthia Irene

Barbershop Post

Dante Pasquinelli

Digital Axis

Sherif Higazy

Dan Gillette

Riff Raff Films

Hip Hop

Ab-Soul ft Zacari 'Do Better' by Omar Jones

Ab-Soul - Do Better (Official Video)

RadicalMedia’s C Prinz, part of directing trio sportscar, has joined forces with rapper and singer Doechii to forge an untamed and unforgettable new music video for her latest single ‘Crazy’. Teeming with female nudity, gun violence, and unfiltered emotion, the video tackles taboos surrounding women in the 21st century.The video opens dramatically with a nude Doechii shooting another woman in the head in an abandoned warehouse. Chaotic to its core, this sense of wildness continues throughout the film, which sees women smashing cars with baseball bats and dancing fiercely in formation dressed only in thigh-high leather boots, as well Doechii putting out a cigarette on her own arm. As the action escalates, a car is set alight, women fighting, running, and dancing in its orange glow. Suddenly, we cut to the first scene again, with Doechii shooting the woman once more - only this time, we realise that she is shooting herself.To craft the film, C Prinz collaborated closely with Doechii and label Top Dawg Entertainment on the creative direction, wanting to dissect the intricacies of women-on-women violence. Drawing from a decade of experience in the industry, C Prinz and Doechii wanted to reflect on the fact that some of the harshest moments they had suffered had come from other women, in reaction to a feeling that there wasn’t enough room for all of them. Pushing back against that notion, the team wanted the video to convey the thesis that when one woman suffers, so do they all. Using the revelation that Doechii was shooting herself all along, the video seals in this idea, showing that at the end of the day, women are in it together.The music video was shot on several different cameras, sometimes simultaneously, in order to complete the whole shoot in a single day. For the beginning and end, C Prinz had originally pitched a SnorriCam, so DP Mika Altskan reached out to the inventor himself to find out if he had anything new for them to play with - and he did. Doechii was given a rig to wear that could allow the traditional SnorriCam capabilities, while also being able to push and turn the camera on two other axes. This never-before-used equipment allowed Mika to transcend the dimensional possibilities of the scenes, making the viewer feel like they are inside a video game.Taking responsibility to respectfully depict such stigmatised and triggering imagery, namely female nudity and point blank gun violence, the shoot had to be approached with sensitivity. Field Trip producers Eli Raskin, Cole Santiago, and Nance Messineo strived to bring the creative vision to life while also cultivating a safe environment for such intensity to exist in a non-threatening way. C Prinz also ensured that the teams involved remained mindful of how the content would be perceived, knowing how quickly viewers could misinterpret its shock-value as gratuitous. To combat this, C Prinz worked to make the core message clear, transforming the piece into a springboard for reflection and debate on the way challenging ideas make us feel.C Prinz comments: “The idea for a project about power, self-realisation, and self-actualisation had been forming in me for a long time, and hearing the track brought it to the surface. It's a film about women surviving and ultimately rising in this world - I come from choreography, so I often see things in terms of bodies moving in relation to the rules of their space. When I pitched the idea, I didn’t think it would get the green light - it would be too dark, too aggressive, too masculine - but Doechii and Top Dawg Entertainment ran with it and allowed me to go even darker. From that day on for the next four months, Doechii and I worked closely to interweave her personal story inside of this beautiful hell.”She adds: “I am unbelievably humbled and endlessly inspired by every single person in the cast and crew that showed up with their endless energy and levity - this film is what it is because of their openness and willingness to trust and try. Similarly to how I feel about every department head on this project, DP Mika Altskan's willingness to work with me unconditionally, day and night, for two weeks straight was beyond the job description. His constant challenging of the idea every single day in a new way was truly inspiring.”

C Prinz

Nabeer Kahn

Field Trip

Capitol Records

Doechii 'Crazy' by C Prinz

Doechii-'Crazy'-by-C-Prinz

In his final video of a very busy 2017, and is latest collab with Dave Meyers, Kendrick Lamar has a message of Love. &nbsp;

Dave Meyers

The Little Homies

Nathan Scherrer

freenjoy

Aftermath

Interscope

Scott Cunningham

Jason Baum

Jamie Rabineau

Ben Piety

Spencer Graves

Lark Creative

Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari 'LOVE.' by Dave Meyers and the little homies

Kendrick Lamar - LOVE. ft. Zacari

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

Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith

Dave Free

Angel J Rosa

TDE Films

AJR Films

Interscope Records

Kendrick Lamar 'DNA' by Nabil & The Little Homies

Kendrick Lamar - DNA.

A stream&nbsp;of imaginative, beautifully executed&nbsp;setups grace Kendrick Lamar&#39;s return with Humble, directed by Dave Meyers and The&nbsp;Little Homies (Kendrick himself and his label boss Dave Free).Beginning with Lamar dressed as the Pope, and including&nbsp;a tableau resembling The Last Supper, it&#39;s open to interpretation what he means by&nbsp;&quot;humble&quot;. But it&#39;s a big video - perhaps the biggest this year so far &ndash;&nbsp;that&#39;s going to stand up to viewing, and mulling over, again and again.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Greg Scruton

Arcade Edit

Timber

Kendrick Lamar 'Humble' by Dave Meyers & The Little Homies

Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.

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.

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