J-Live live recently shot two videos from his
latest album, All Of The Above in Pittsburgh, PA. Shot by and financially
backed by Pittsburgh native Chris Ivey and Hyperboy Media, J-Live shot videos
for "Mcee," and "Like This Anna."
J-Live was originally going to shoot a video
for "Satisfied," another track off of his critically acclaimed album,
but due to the controversial topic (it deals with September 11th), the director
and the artist agreed to shoot videos for the songs that weren’t as aggressive.
Working with a limited budget, Ivey and J-Live
figured out ways to keep the video interesting. "It’s all in the way you
shoot," Ivey told the Pittsburgh Post. "You’ve really got to push
the creative, have fun with the camera."
For "Like This Anna, the concept’s gonna
be these guys trying to hit on girls a little too aggressively and the girls
just kind of jack ’em up a little, put ’em in their place."
"MCee" is more of a performance clip,
with breakdancing. "There’s not enough craftsmanship in today’s hip-hop,"
J-Live said. "It’s gotten to the point where kids are listening to records
thinking, ‘Okay, well this guy sounds just like him, so what’s stopping me from
sounding just like him, too? ‘If I’d had that type of mindset when I started
rhyming, I’d have been finished, ’cause they weren’t having that in ’89!"