Stormzy celebrates his 30th birthday in style with #TheMikeGala, and uses the occasion as a the perfect opportunity for a music video.Enlisting Troy Roscoe to capture the visuals, the video for Angel In The Marble is an elegant 'who's who' of the British entertainment industry, intercutting glossy portraiture with heightened performance moments. Shot by Rick Joaquim, the contrast of fly-on-the-wall footage and glossy posed snapshots creates a concept that is both ambitious and luxurious - very fitting for one of the biggest artists in the industry right now. "What an absolute pleasure to have the pressure of delivering the most important birthday present of all for Stormzy’s 30th," Roscoe says. "Stormzy and team wanted the visual to be nothing short of clean, glossy and to scream elegance. As hard as it was to not include one bit of VFX, I’m so happy with the turn out."The visual is so different to anything I’ve done before as my style revolves heavily around surrealism and visual effects - but in this instance it pushed me to focus on simplicity and beauty, both on the day and in the edit. The night was hectic but exciting, meetings all of those guests and getting to share such a special occasion with Mike himself. "The grade and slow motion footage really tied everything together and gave it a unique look. With greyscale footage all being shot at a slow frame rate to provide the beauty, and the graded footage in the booth providing the contrast and personality."

Teeeezy C directs a dark tale of risk, repercussion and reward, in his promo for M Huncho x Slim. The enigmatic video for Any Minute takes place against a gritty London backdrop, bringing a dystopian feel to the city streets. Featuring bullet-ridden crime scenes, speedboats cruising down the Thames and plenty of memorable performance moments, the visual storms ahead at breakneck pace, and balances action with an unsettling, melancholic vibe.Teeeezy C's cinematic style comes through in the ambitious scale of the visual, with plenty of engaging cutaways and slick transitionsMeanwhile, Michael Richard Johnson's cinematography hits the right blend of near-future grit and nostalgic flair.

Ukranian director Shapxo creates a stylish, action-packed tour de force for singer/rapper Michelle Andrade, who powers through a gritty, neon-drenched urban landscape on a speeding motorbike.Filmed for the Ukranian artist's track Na Samoti with a largely Ukranian crew, but due to the Russo-Ukranian War filmed in Warsaw, Poland, Shapxo (aka Artem Shapirenko) displays the exciting visual style that has also been in evidence in works like the Kodak-sponsored short film The Enemy, to create a video that looks like a big budget affiar - with great motorbike and drone shots - but created on a shoestring. Shapxo is evidently an exciting talent to watch. And this film is dedicated to the memory of a director who provided him with inspiration: Valentin Petit. The film ends with a message from Shapxo to the director who tragically died in May."I met Valentin Petit before he grew wings," he tells us. "He was the biggest inspiration for me, that's why I decided to dedicate this work to him and that's why this work means a lot to me."

KC Locke directs a frenetic promo for Mist x M1llionz, boasting dynamic studio performance set-ups and a high-octane car chase. While the video blends Locke's love for energetic camerawork with vehicle-based action shots, Jamil Shaukat's sharp edit brings everything together with artistic flair, keeping the perfect pace throughout. "Really enjoyed collaborating with Mist again and first time collaboration with M1llionz," Locke says. "I know Mist is a big petrolhead and the idea of a fast action car chase mixed with precision handheld performance always gets me excited."Always a good energy shoot when Mist is involved, and Mist & M1llionz were a pleasure to work with."

The idea of chasing a high lays the foundations of Andre Muir's brilliant promo for Mick Jenkins, exploring the idea of escapism in every area of life. The video features a series of powerful vignettes, tied together by their portrayal of different forms of toxic black masculinity, which ultimately drives the characters to seek escapism.The project not only showcases Andre Muir’s visionary storytelling, but also demonstrates his commitment to exploring important social issues. He aspires to spark change, encourage self-reflection, and promote a more inclusive and compassionate understanding of masculinity in all its forms.It's a remarkable piece of work; a powerful, fresh perspective on a hugely important subject, with visuals that match the ambition of the concept.“What inspired my idea was the literal song title," Muir explains. "A smoke break. You take them, normally at work. You're taking this break, this distraction from this other thing in your life that you think sucks - a job, school, etc. But this little break is probably worse for you than that job could ever be."The song made me think about the different vices or 'highs' we use to escape reality. But they can be double-edged swords as well. Sometimes the things we do to avoid and distract from our reality to gain some semblance of control ends up controlling us.In my work, I make a deliberate effort to focus on the Black experience, and that was my intention with this video."I wanted to create a narrative video that showed different characters doing just that. Only I wanted to focus these distractions around what I think is the root cause of a lot of vices for men, which is black toxic masculinity. Whether it's drugs, thrill-seeking, partying, doing acts of bravado in front of the camera for followers, they're all just these negative manifestations of our expectations of how a man should conduct himself."I came into film more focussed on narrative, and the actual visual itself was never something I was too fixated on. With this music video I really wanted it to be an exercise in frame composition and I was really proud to see what myself and my director of photography Brandon Hoeg, were able to do with the type of budget restraints we had."Working with Mick is always great. He’s a great collaborator in the sense that he’s really open to ideas. He cares about the visual and meaning behind it, and that's way more important to him than just being in front of the camera. I also think we have similar sensibilities when it comes to subject matter. I pitched him what I got from the song, and we immediately clicked on themes and what was most important to portray visually."In my work, I make a deliberate effort to focus on the Black experience, and that was my intention with this video as well. I aimed to zero in on black toxic masculinity specifically. However, witnessing the public lynching of Jordan Neely, seeing how no one helped him but instead they’d rather record it on their phones, it made me realize that we all suffer from a larger culprit: patriarchy in general. This realization led to a last minute inclusion of an additional scene at the end of the video, highlighting this broader perspective."As these people egged this man on, as he sucked the life out of Jordan, I’m sure he was aware of these cameras, I’m sure he thought he was a hero, as he did what he was 'trained' to do, I’m sure he thought he was doing what a man would do in that situation."

When Stormzy does videos, he does them big, and the video for Toxic Trait, directed by Femi Ladi, is no different, boasting a tour de force of set builds, visual effects and cameos - delivered with a mesmerizing motion controlled camera move.What's more, there's a dramatised therapy session featuring guest artist Fredo - with his therapist played by TV royalty Alison Hammond.The video fictionally contextualises a plethora of 'toxic' situations that Stormzy refers to in the track, honing in on gambling, violence and the glorification of luxury lifestyles. And as the camera shifts between multiple versions of the grime superstar, Ladi introduces significant, historical cultural moments from over the years, including the iconic 1968 Esquire Magazine cover of Muhammed Ali and Kehinde Wiley’s prominent painting, A Ship Of Fools.When the action breaks for the therapy scene with Fredo and Hammond, it's a welcome development of the theme that also adds a touch of humour. Then it concludes with a group-therapy session which features further cameos from a range of British figureheads including Ivorian Doll, Wretch 32 and Specs Gonzalez.Filmed in London earlier this year, the majority of the visual was shot on a high-speed, cinema robot camera, capable of horizontal and vertical movement speeds of up to 2 metres per second.“After listening to the lyrics, I wanted to have fun with this video," Femi Ladi has stated. "I liked the idea of bringing a Renaissance-style painting to life, whilst still feeling grounded in the world of Stormzy."We collaborated on all the scenarios together which was great - as well as being able to bring in thelikes of Fredo and Alison Hammond for their own toxic therapy sessions!"​

French rapper Ninho takes on the world in this action-packed, VFX-fired blockbuster for 25G, by Édith TV.

Taz Tron Delix makes a big statement with his video for J Hus' long-awaited return with It's Crazy. And its a triumph from start to finish.Taz develops Hus's unique visual world for his comeback, framing the intent of the artist so it's unswervingly clear from the first moment: Hus in on a mission to let everyone know he’s still got something to say and nothing has changed.We see the artist in a chaotic industrial setting, surrounded by faceless foot soldiers who cause havoc at every corner. From clashes with riot police to characters running atop demolished vehicles, this is a lawless world with only one ruler... Hus himself. Building to an explosive, riotous climax, the video is a confident, passionate return for the artist, with a supernatural, dystopic vibe. With a gritty yet bold aesthetic, with cinematography by Spike Morris, and a cinematic grade, care of Alex Gregory at No.8 - the video is a slick and polished showcase for both J Hus and the entire creative team.