Spike Lee Was My Hero: The Juggernaut Video - Driz Lo (Directed by Kil & Panama Rand)

It's been 2 years since I shot my last video for the bul Jay Rugga but after my dude Tony came up to the DMV to get some footage of me & Nay for his documentary and I saw all his equipment and the footage he caught...I got the bug to start shooting again. It just so happened that we just let Driz Lo's new single "The Juggernaut" go, so I felt like no better time then the present to make it happen. The only thing was, I didn't wanna shoot the regular "rap video." You know, the around the way, sitting in front of the bodega with you & your crew type video. And that's absolutely no knock on those kind of videos cause I've shot those myself but I just wanted to do something bigger and deffer. So between reading this book on the making of Tarentino's "Pulp Fiction" and listening to a RACK of Gangrene (if ya'll never heard Alchemist & Oh No's albums together kill yourself) on repeat, I came up with an ill treatment for the video. Now, anybody who gets behind the camera knows that one of the hardest things to do is bringing the vision that's in your head to fruition. But I can honestly say that I pulled it off perfectly with this jawn but let me know what ya'll think...

Sidebar Vintage...Everyday People

There's not a lot of REAL dope stuff on tap any more. Everything to me is just aiight. Music, kicks, clothes...you name it, and bet money it'll just be aiight. There was a time many, many, many moons ago when you would walk into your local record store (Sound of fill in the blank...Germantown, Market, etc. in Philly and Beat Street when I rested in Brooklyn) and unless you sold drugs then there was no way that you'd be able to cop every new 12" and album that you wanted. Same when it came to kicks, I'd go into Sneaky Pete's or stop down on Ogontz and could only dream of saying "I'll take everything on the wall in a size 9." Nowadays unless it's a pair of retro J's or a pair of uptowns you couldn't give me 80% of kicks in whatever sneaker store you go to. And it's the exact same thing with gear. And that's where Sidebar Vintage comes into play. About 6 months ago me & my man Ev decided to start designing tee shirts and let the line grow. And after months of planning and designing, I'm proud to say that we're finally launching site and the sale of first 2 shirts...the Vinyl Junkies and the Illawakening tees. So come through the new website and support! Best believe we mos def appreciate it! www.sidebarvintage.com

The Promo: Jay Rugga's Money Got Lost Promo Video

Last week my dude Jay Rugga came down to DC for a quick photo shoot for his album and since we don't get a chance to link up too often I wanted to get some video footage of him too. The problem? We only had 3 hours to do both. But ya'll know me, I gotta make sumthin' outta nuthin' so we just ended up doing both at the same time. Plus a 'lil video footage is better then none, right? So check out a quick promo vid for me and Rugga's banger "Money Got Lost."

Buy The Album When I Drop It: The Vet Mixtape - Viral Audio

"Well, they say nobody knows me, I respond the greatest move slowly and keep it on the low key" - Viral Audio

I've known Tay since the 90's high school back in Philly but it wasn't til about two years ago that we linked back up through facebook and she was telling me that cats back in Philly were frontin' on her on the music tip. And if ya'll know anything about me, ya'll should know I HATE cats frontin' on folk for no reason. So after hearing that, me and Tay started rocking together on a song here and there and the chemistry she had with my beats were so dope we just decided to go all in a project. Her debut solo album "The Vet" is about 50% done but we wanted to drop a 'lil sumthin' so here's a sampler of some of the heat we're about to have on tap for ya'll.

The Chop Shop: Tra Boogie and The City of New Orleans

I've always messed with New Orleans . It's EASILY one of my favorite spots to visit. I went for the first time back in '98 when WEAA sent me and DJ Koz down for the Gavin Seminar and we had a ball! Between the music, the people (we got to link up with my 'lil sis Tra and her moms and Koz actually met his wife there) and the food (if you've been to New Orleans then you KNOW about the food) I have no idea how you could not love this city. It also didn't hurt that we flew in on the last day of Mardi Gras. After seeing what Katrina did to the city and the way that N.O. residents were born survivors throughout the entire ordeal only made me love the city THAT much more. I've always wanted to do a documentary on the city but not like how Spike did with "When The Levees Broke" but a doc on the heart and soul of the residents and why the peoples of New Orleans came back. That's the most intriguing part for me because if a city gets hit by a hurricaine every year and you never really know how bad it can be and after seeing what Katrina did, there's no way I'm moving back! But a lot of people did and from the people I spoke with their answer was simple...New Orleans is my home. So while I was in N.O. for a conference for my gig, it was the perfect time to start getting some footage for my doc "Come Hell or High Water" and I gotta give a HUGE shout out to my 'lil sis Tra Boogie (a born and bred N.O. resident) for taking me around the city into Treme and the 9th ward so I was able to grab some dope footage and get some shots up of the "REAL" New Orleans. You know, the part of the city that 90% of tourist that come for Essence, the Super Bowl and Bourbon Street never see. So check out this "Chop Shop" piece, which is just a small portion of the footage I grabbed so cats could get a quick glimpse of what some of the 9th ward looks like, 7 years after Katrina hit.

The Promo: The StressWon & Kil's Stress Promo Video - Directed by Kil

A minute ago while me and Stress were up in B'more doing a photo shoot, in and out of rain drops (what MC used "in & out of rain drops" in one of his rhymes?) we were able to get a couple of shots up for the video for "Stress" the 1st single off our Promo EP but not nearly enough to make a complete product. Not thinking, I was gonna let it collect dust on my hard drive but Stress had the dope idea to make a quick promo vid from the footage. So here's a quick look into what me and Stress are cooking up for ya'll...

The Promo: K Fanat's Renaissance Musician Video - Directed by Kil

Aiight...now this jawn right here is REAL special to me. Not just because K is my dude or because I produced the track but because I directed the video! Now, that may not sound amazing to you but it's amazing to me because I don't know how to direct videos! But when you're like me and you live by my motto of "one monkey don't stop no show" and cats front on you for shooting videos or wanna charge you like they're Hype Williams (and they're not), you'll learn how to shoot videos yourself too. So throughout this process of producing 9 albums that'll be dropping this year (yup, 9 albums) I've gone from just being a producer, to being an engineer, a web designer, a photographer, a promoter and now a videographer. And the dope thing about wearing all of these hats is now that I know how to do it, I don't have to come outta pocket to pay anybody else to do it for me. It's like once you learn how to change your car's oil, I'm sure you're never going back to Midas and paying $35 to get someone else to do it. And you'll probably be kicking yourself for all those years you were paying $35 to get it done! And that's how I feel right about now. And outta everything that I've done with my music, my writings and me and Roz's marriage work, this video right here, this is the thing I'm the most proud of myself for. And that's because I can make beats, write and talk about marriage with my eyes closed but like I said I came into shooting this video with absolutely NO idea of what I was doing. And to be honest, I think the jawn came out pretty dope, what ya'll think?