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Behind The Lens with Rik Cordero

The music video is probably the most effective and essential tool an artist can use to promote their career. The advent of Youtube, Facebook, and other social networking and blog sites have made it easy for artists to deliver a visual interpretation of their work directly to their fans immediately. However, even that process wouldn’t be possible without a music video director.

Music video directors are responsible for writing “treatments”, the story form of a music video that eventually becomes a “shot list”, a list of shots that the director plans to get on the day of shooting. In short, they are responsible for translating the lyrical metaphors of an artist into visuals that the audience can relate to. One of the newest and most exciting Directors of late is Rik Cordero.

Cordero, a graduate of the New York Institute of Technology, initially studied Computer Graphics and then found himself attracted towards video art and motion graphics. Like many of the earlier music video directors, Cordero was first a film director who fell into videos, his first full-length film, Mend, is a drama about prescription drugs, which received independent distribution in 2006. His second feature film, Inside A Change won The 2009 Best Film Award at the 2009 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival.

These days, Rik Cordero, a New York native, is becoming well-known for shooting raw and engaging hip-hop videos. His video for The Clipse feat. Cam’ron, “Popular Demand,” was meant to just be a viral video for the internet; instead it is in regular rotation on MTV networks. Cordero has also shot videos for Nas, The Roots, Consequence, Slaughterhouse, and more. Allhiphop.com spoke with Rik Cordero by phone to discuss the art of music video direction and what aspiring directors can do to get their turn behind the lens.

AllHipHop.com: Rik, thanks for speaking with me. I’m curious, what is your favorite music video that you didn’t direct?

Rik Cordero: “99 Problems” by Jay-Z, which was directed by Mark Romanek. It’s definitely one of my favorite Hip-Hop videos because of the way it captured Jay-Z. I think it was one of the most honest portrayals of his image. It’s definitely one of my favorite and most influential videos, I always try to take a piece from that video and put my own spin to it.

AllHipHop.com: What is your favorite part of the music video direction process?

Rik Cordero: I guess it’s working with the artists and trying to capture something real about their personality and capturing their vision for the song. I try to create visual metaphors for what their lyrics are. Oftentimes, I try to build the storyline and use these visual metaphors for what the lyrics are saying.

AllHipHop.com: What has the internet age done for music videos?

Rik Cordero: The internet has driven the labels to not spend as much money on music video production. What that means is that artists are kind of forced to create their own videos some of the time. They have a little bit more freedom to create visuals for tracks that the labels wouldn’t consider mainstream. I feel like the internet has empowered artists to reach their core fan base a little quicker. I think it’s changed the music video industry, so a lot of directors are kind of adapting to it. I came into it when Youtube.com just started so I am used to producing videos cost effectively. There is a misconception that “internet directors” lowered the standards and lowered the budgets, but it’s the market, that was the cause of dwindling budgets. It’s going to be interesting to see how the labels try to monetize music videos in the future.

AllHipHop.com: What would be your dream music video or feature film project?

Rik Cordero: My dream feature film would science fiction based; a lot of my favorite films are science fiction. When I was a kid, I saw “Aliens” by James Cameron and I was really inspired to get into filmmaking because of that. I got into music videos, but for me, a feature film drama that’s science fiction based, that would be a dream project of mine. Music video wise, I don’t really have a dream project, I just really like to live in the present and whatever comes my way, I try to do a really great job at the moment. I try not to think too far ahead. I just kind of accept whatever comes my way and make the best out of it.

Rik Cordero Discusses His Videos!

“Shake This” by Royce Da 5’9”. P###. By DJ Premier

“This was a video we shot in Detroit. I thought it was a really great record when I first heard it. Royce is being really emotionally honest in the lyrics, which is really refreshing. A lot of the criticism for that video is that I didn’t show a lot of what he was saying in the song, as far as his problems with alcohol and that stuff. I showed more of people hearing these lyrics and taking it adapting for their own lives. It was a little abstract, but I think it worked out great.”

“Popular Demand” by The Clipse feat. Cam’Ron. P###. By Pharrell

“This video brings The Clipse back to the streets. We shot that without permits in the middle of East New York, Brooklyn. So, we were getting chased by the cops, it was a pretty crazy shoot. I think that’s why a lot of people are into that video, it’s very street, very real. One of the cool things about that video is nobody was casted for it, it’s just people in the neighborhood who just showed up and we put them in. There is a shot of some of older women in a fitness center on Rutland Pkwy and they walk out and they just jump into the shot while Pusha T. is rapping and they just start dancing. That’s stuff that you can’t write out, it just happens while the cameras are rolling.”

“Mixin’ Up The Medicine” by Juelz Santana feat. Yelawolf. P###. By Kane Beatz

“For that video we constructed a laboratory scene that was basically inspired by the film, I Am Legend. The idea is that Juelz has been stuck in this lab for years, “mixing up the medicine” or creating music. His only link to the outside world is these TV screens with Yelawolf performing the hook which is taken from a Bob Dylan record. Juelz had fun with it, he improvised a lot of different actions on the screen. It was cool.”

“Sly Fox” by Nas. P###. By stic.man of Dead Prez

“That was a viral video we shot for Nas off his last album “Untitled”. The idea starts off with these kids who are basically getting misinformation from Fox News. The idea is that today’s youth or today’s bloggers are the new media and that we don’t have to tune into the networks. The idea was to turn off the networks, the television, and to find the truth online, which is where a lot of kids go to now to get their news.”

AHH Stray News: Young Jeezy, Update On Rapping Soldier, Ice Cube

(AllHipHop News) Young Jeezy will officially release his new mixtape Trap Or Die II, with DJ Drama this weekend in Miami. The pair patched up their strained relationship in surprise interview on DJ Drama’s Gangsta Grillz Radio show in December of 2009. Gucci Mane also called in and squashed his beef with Jeezy during the show. Jeezy, DJ Drama, DJ Khaled and others will celebrate the release of Trap or Die II during Superbowl Weekend with an official mixtape party hosted by Young Jeezy and DJ Drama. The event is slated to take place February 6 at Klutch on Collins Ave. The first single from Trap or Die II is titled “Takeover” and recently leaked on the Internet.

 

The Army specialist who was accused of threatening superior officers in the military has been court marshaled in Kuwait. Specialist Marc. A. Hall had been imprisoned in Fort Stewart in Georgia since December, for dropping a song chastising the Army’s possible decision to send him back to Iraq. Hall threatened to shoot officers in his rhymes and sent a copy of the song to the Pentagon. Hall will be tried in Kuwait because various witnesses in the case are deployed in the Middle East. A lawyer for Hall claimed the Army was making it difficult for Hall to present his own witnesses.

 

Over 25 rap stars will participate in the 2010 Paid Dues Festival, which will take place Saturday, April 3 at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California. Rapper Ice Cube will headline the event, while Tha Dogg Pound, Raekwon, Tech N9Ne, Jay Electronica, Murs & 9th Wonder, Freeway & Jake One and a host of other acts will grace two stages. Hosts include Angela Yee, The event, is being produced by Murs 3:16 in association with Guerrilla Union. Tickets for the event go on sale this Saturday (February 6) at all Ticketmaster locations. The 2010 Paid Dues lineup is listed below:

ICE CUBE MURS & 9TH WONDER TECH N9NE RAEKWON JAY ELECTRONICA THA DOGG POUND (Daz Dillinger & Kurupt) DILATED PEOPLES PSYCHO REALM NECRO PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS DEL THA FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN FREEWAY & JAKE ONE RANDOM AXE (Sean Price, Guilty Simpson, & Black Milk) R.A. THE RUGGED MAN STRONG ARM STEADY SHAPE SHIFTERS CURREN$Y DOOMTREE MAC LETHAL POTLUCK AFRO CLASSICS (Scarub & Very) DOM KENNEDY HOPIE SPITSHARD DJ ROWDY A MC PROTOTYPE

Plus Very Special Guests FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP (Featuring All Original Members ACEYALONE, MYKA NYNE, P.E.A.C.E, SELF JUPITER, & DJ KILLU)

Hosted By ANGELA YEE & DJ WONDER, DJ VAL THE VANDLE & DUMBFOUNDEAD

VIP Area Hosted By LA LEAKERS

Eve’s Former Boyfriend Accused Of Laundering Hundreds of Millions

(AllHipHop News) Rap star Eve is part of a U.S. Senate investigation into the illicit laundering of millions of foreign dollars by her former boyfriend, Teodorin Nguema Obiang.

 

Obiang is the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of oil rich Equatorial Guinea, a small West African country.

 

Investigators claim Obiang laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in corrupt oil money and gas reserves to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a $30 million Malibu estate, multiple exotic cars, and a down payment Gulfstream jet.

 

Senate investigators are looking into a number of Obiang’s business associates and business ventures, including “Sweet Pink Inc.,” which was reportedly launched in honor of his then girlfriend, Eve.

 

While they were dating, Obiang allegedly paid Microsoft founder Paul Allen $700,000 to rent his Yacht so he and Eve could take a romantic Christmas cruise.

 

Two lawyers are testifying before the Senate today (February 4).

 

They are accused of orchestrating most of the deals and laundering another $100 million through Citibank and Wachovia.

Eminem Shoots Down Rumors Of New Baby With Kim

(AllHipHop News) Eminem has responded to rumors sparked by a tabloid report that stated he had reunited and fathered a new child with his ex-wife, Kim Mathers.

 

Star Magazine claimed that Eminem and Kim Mathers had reunited for a third time and were expecting a child.

 

“Contrary to false rumors spread by unreliable tabloids, Marshall and Kim Mathers are not romantically reunited in any way, nor are they expecting a child together,” a representative for Eminem said in a statement. “They are a divorced couple who share custody of their daughter and maintain a friendly relationship.”

 

Eminem, born Marshall Mathers, originally married Kim in 1999.

 

 The couple divorced in 2001, during the success of the rapper’s Marshall Mathers LP, which contained the scathing diss track “Kim,” which accused her of being unfaithful.

 

“I would rather have a baby through my penis than get married again,” Eminem told Rolling Stone in 2002.

 

In January of 2006, the couple remarried in a lavish ceremony, only to be divorced for a second time, just three months later.

Foxy Brown Disses Lil Kim On “Let Em Know”; Name Checks Eve, Trina

(AllHipHop News) A new track by Brooklyn rapper Foxy Brown hit the Internet today (February 4).

 

The song, titled “Let Em Know” is the latest release from Foxy Brown and features M.O.P. group member Lil Fame and rapper BAM.

 

 The 4 minute and five second track, which was produced by Easy Mo Bee, features Foxy Brown name checking a number of rappers during her verse.

 

Brown drops lines about Jay-Z, former boyfriend Rick Ross, Eve, Miami rapper Trina and longtime nemesis, Lil Kim.

 

A number of lines are aimed at some of the more popular female rappers of the day, but most seem to be directed at Lil Kim.

 

“I’d rather be in the club at the bar/then to disrespect my hood on Dancing With the Stars/Nah I’m in the hood taking chances with the Gods..”

 

 Later Brown gets more aggressive with the lyrics, adding Eve to the list of names called out on the track.

 

“Slam a b**ch on her back like I’m John Cena/F**k that I aint Eve, I aint Kim, I aint Trina/BK’s own Diva/I give the whole hood face lifts/Go on and fix your face b***h/”

 

Foxy Brown’s last full length album was titled Brooklyn’s Don Diva and was released by Koch Records in May of 2008.

 

 

Hip-Hop Rumors: Foxy Brown Admits To Previous Affair With Jay-Z???

DISCLAIMER:

 

All

content within this section is pure rumor and generally have no factual

info outside of what the streets have whispered in our ear. Read on.

Whoa.

There are some rumors that just sound like an ad lib.

Whoa.

Foxy Brown raps on a new song and that song is very interesting. Truth be told, Foxy has been rumors to been sleeping with Nas, AZ, and more recently Rick Ross. Who knows, but she drops a bombshell in this new song.

She says:

“The Street’s talkin’ about the hood’s going crazy / N***as heard I f**k with Ross and had the n***a baby / They say I f**k with Nas and now they say its AZ / But on the low, the real n***a was Jay-Z.”

Basically after that she said she was Jay’s girl before “out of town trips to Baltimore” and before the Maybach.”

I mean, this is pretty self explanatory, if you ask me. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

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They keep us talking, but if we stop talking about them then they should worry!

-illseed

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WHAT: Rumors

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HOW: Send your rumors and ill pics to illseed at [email protected].