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Director BOBBY YAN Talks Working With #MasterP, Knowing Early #LilWayne And Having No. 1 X-Mas Movie
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Jan 13, 2025
Chuck Creekmur aka Jigsaw interviews Bobby Yan, a director and creative producer, about his latest projects and career journey. Bobby discusses his new Christmas movie, "A Very Merry Beauty Salon," which has become the number one movie on Lifetime right. now. He highlights the film's focus on Tia Mowry, the star, sisterhood, unity, and Black culture. Bobby also shares insights into his upcoming thriller, "Sugar Mama," set to release on Tubi. The conversation delves into Bobby's directing approach, his early career in music videos with Master P, talking to Lil Wayne as a rap fiend and his influences like Uncle Ralph McDaniels. He even has a Notorious B.I.G. story to tell. Directors like Spike Lee were early influences, but now Mr. Yan is a man of his own with a serious vision. Subscribe to AllHipHop on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/allhiphoptv?sub_confirmation=1 Check out more of AHH here on social media: https://allhiphop.com https://twitter.com/allhiphopcom https://facebook.com/allhiphopcom https://instagram.com/allhiphopcom Executive Producers: “Grouchy” Greg Watkins and Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur AllHipHop.com, a powerhouse in the Hip-Hop world, was established and brought to life in 1998 by the visionary CEOs "Grouchy" Greg Watkins and Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur. Over the years, AllHipHop has solidified its position as an invaluable hub for all things Hip-Hop on the web. With its daily dose of news, exclusive interviews, in-depth reviews, multimedia content, a newly-minted expanding community, and a treasure trove of other engaging material, it has garnered immense praise and a dedicated following. Renowned publications consistently turn to AllHipHop for their news and feature references, attesting to the site's unparalleled accuracy and trustworthiness. Additionally, AllHipHop has fostered strong partnerships with numerous offline print magazines, newspapers, television networks, and radio stations, further cementing its influence and reach in the world of #HipHop. #chuckcreekmur #allhiphoptv #allhiphop #grouchygreg
View Video Transcript
0:08
hey hey this is Bobby an director and I'm shouting out all hip hop what's going on world it's your man Chuck
0:14
creeker AKA jigsaw and I'm here with a good friend of mine Bobby Yan director creative producer also a hip-hop head
0:22
and an aquarius yes my man what's up how you doing what's up Chuck yeah this is
0:28
like a full circle I've never interviewed you before no holy crap and we've known each other you
0:35
know I'm behind the scenes so I'm I'm on your side of the video side I'm just
0:41
going to say this we're not doing the behind the scenes thing anymore yeah we're for you we're not okay okay so
0:48
we're going to put you front and center for a little bit because you are one of the most um well for us revered because
0:55
of who you are but you're in demand now because of what you do directing movies
1:02
uh in particular now a Christmas movie which is a whole genre right now that
1:08
they so big that they started releasing it after the election because people were like kind of messed up after the
1:14
election so they Ed Christmas movies to uh uh bring the mood up so talk about your latest project uh sure my new
1:21
project is on on Lifetime networks it's a Christmas movie called a very merry
1:27
beauty salon it stars the amazing in tiam Mari uh as well as the homie Ron
1:33
Rico Lee uh which is basically a a reunion of sorts from them being on
1:39
sister sister like 25 years ago or something like that so um it's it's it's
1:44
great it's a great movie just released uh this past Saturday and so at this time of viewing whenever this comes out
1:50
you can you can find it on Lifetime network on the app as well as on the the linear cable I'm definitely going to
1:56
watch it because uh you know I'm trying you know a specific mind State you have
2:02
to be in so I'm I'm I'll I'll I'm admittedly into more Ser like very
2:07
serious movies Thrillers basically is my favorite genre well I got that for you too but still okay all right but I'll
2:13
say this uh in in times like this it's good to have something to Coast
2:19
something to I think for for all of us and I'm going to shout out the uh you know Tia and also Michael chin Adam
2:25
Shepard the the execs the goal was to create like um and as they call it a to black women
2:33
and hair oh that's why it's called very Mary Bey salon and and also just capturing the spirit of
2:40
Sisterhood uh uh unity and love and I think I think the goal of that with that
2:46
in mind of all of our heads coming together and then doing that type of CPS film is what makes it special because
2:53
it's a feel-good movie uh it's it's for the fans you know it's it's very
2:58
audience driven it's it's fan what do you call it Fan Fair I don't know what you call it the word is it's for the
3:04
fans that want to see them together yeah Rico and an Tia so uh it's it's a
3:10
feel-good movie but it's also a positive portrayal of relationships Sisterhood
3:15
black love uh on myself as a director you know I'm a big proponent of of uh
3:23
real stories uh truth positive images um
3:28
culture you know I do things for the culture you know and that comes back to me from my hip-hop Roots y so I think
3:35
this movie naturally caters to my to my goals as a director so I think this fil
3:41
follows that so I'm very proud of it how was it working with Tia I mean she's Tia
3:46
Mari is a consumate professional she is literally you know she's a queen she's a
3:52
professional top bottom that's all I can say she's amazing she knows her stuff
3:58
yeah she she she's a a professional actress she's a
4:04
philanthropist she's an entrepreneur and I think the the film shows that right you know because she's the executive producer this is her third film in a
4:10
three picture deal with lifetime so I'm really happy that I was help able to help her you know go out with a bang you
4:16
know nice so shouts to tari yeah thank you for choosing me that's what's up that's awesome um how has the response B
4:24
uh just found out from Tia Tia's cousin um shout out to Jerome uh that they're
4:30
it's the number one movie on H lifetime yeah for Ratings so congrats yeah yeah
4:35
no shout out no that's at this moment got some other movies coming out from them shots to other movies yeah so
4:41
currently we are the number one movie in lifetime number one we have we have to put that on our hip-hop as a lead news
4:47
story or something because uh you know hip-hop move I mean hip-hop Christmas
4:53
movies is a genre is its own thing now like there's to me as I look at the the
4:59
landscape of movies these movies uh seems like they just whoosh they just
5:06
kind of descend do you believe me or do you agree with me descend like they it's
5:12
like it seems like there's a it's kind of like horror you know how horror used to be like there would be like three
5:18
Freddy Jason and and um Michael Myers and then but now we have like a whole
5:25
influx of like horror as a genre Beyond even on the line of thrill yeah I
5:31
believe that it's the waves of of what people watch is a testament to the society that we're
5:37
in right now okay right so I think right now Christmas movies over the last what
5:43
10 well really it's never really gone away right but particularly now with the fact that there's so many media Outlets
5:50
you can watch things on your phone people need escapism Christmas is an escapism right so and also if you look
5:58
at the numbers and the and the audience audience the audience it's it's a lot of women right it's a lot of non-white
6:04
women black women and other people watching but if you look at it you can really get a sense of where we are right
6:10
now in terms of the needs of the audience right I think that for us in media even with music even with hip-hop
6:17
to to see who your audience you know a rapper should know who Their audience is yeah right just like a a a TV network
6:25
like lifetime should know who Their audience is or to be whoever it is they know their audience they knew who they're catering to so I think the fact
6:31
that there's an influx of Christmas movies all around from Lifetime to bet to everywhere else it's a it shows
6:38
that's the taste right right and every year it's a big money maker for them so every year you're going to see more yeah
6:45
sure you know it's all my little you know future filmmakers out there write a Christmas film you never know you could sell it right okay make it good just
6:53
make it good we're g talk about that but yeah talk about your new film you have one coming up yes my next project uh
6:59
which is a total 360 from this one 180 it's a thriller thriller horror and it's
7:05
coming out on 2B it's a 2B original uh it's called Sugar Mama okay um that one's coming out January 3rd on tub it's
7:12
2B original uh really proud of that one that one I would call a it's uh it's
7:18
Fatal Attraction meets get out that's how I like to describe it and when you see it you'll see why I said that okay
7:25
so I think you're going to love it I think the audience is going to love it I know tub tub has has uh expressed their
7:32
their excitement over it so I'm really excited the actors in it are amazing it's a a Stars latara Rose um you you
7:40
probably don't know that name but you probably seen the face okay and I'm really really excited to have a film
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starring her she's amazing in it uh as well as jab hajes uh jab hores sorry uh
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he's uh uh I guess kind of more upand cominging but he's in a lot of things he's in a an upcoming CBS um a CBS uh um
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soap opera coming out uh all black uh cast soap proper called uh behind the
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Gates or something beyond the gates okay I think so he's one of the co-stars of that show so uh really excited for him
8:16
and jabri he did a great job as one of the leads of this film so excited for everybody to see it nice what's your
8:21
what's your approach to directing uh and and dealing with these talented individuals um I direct from
8:30
Spirit I think that's the best way to describe it I mean I've been doing this uh for a really long time I started uh
8:37
you know the music industry with music videos many many years ago that's when we first met so I directed over 100
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music videos um and I think from that uh directing is like music to me
8:49
there's a there's a there's a story there's a visual there's a there's an audio directing is is taking all of that
8:56
and telling a story in a certain way but for me it's for for me to figure out what's the tone of the the the the
9:02
script that I'm working with every movie is different which is why I can flip from a christas movie all the way to a
9:08
thriller yeah right because anything I do I embody the story it's about story
9:13
first yeah and then secondly just as important it's about the tone what is the tone that I need to capture yeah and
9:20
whatever that tone is that's what I really I sink into that very deeply as a director I put my my whole Spirit into
9:27
us so I so I direct from spirit because yeah it comes from here right right it's how it it's how it guides me to to to
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set up the shots how I set up the lighting the the art Direction um how I work with the actors
9:40
to figure out their backstory uh to figure out is there something Beyond what's on this page that we should know
9:47
about the characters what is it what have you gone through what have I gone through let's talk about it and figure
9:53
out how do we how do we make what's on the page come alive and maybe even even
9:58
embellish it to be better than what's on the page a lot of times that's what a good director brings to the table they
10:04
can take anything and make it better yeah that's the job of a director that's the craft of a true director I think
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which is my goal to be one of the top true directors out there doing their thing nice nice
10:17
um let me ask you some well before I ask you those questions talk a little bit
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you have the uh video music box hoodie on Ralph Uncle Ralph Uh Kevin Lawrence
10:29
everybody uh I call myself vmb family uh Ralph was uh one of the first people uh
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back in the day when I was like 1718 I was uh interning I was interning and paing and I used to intern for Ralph
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from back in the day I think I was like maybe 17 18 years old yeah so uh uh in
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turn I I lived in New Orleans I went to school in New Orleans at two lane shot two University oh you're a native New
10:56
Yorker you should know Native New Yorker uh got my start in New Orleans of all places so a lot of people used to think
11:02
I'm from New Orleans but I'm from here but New Orleans is the second home uh tilling University uh was amazing and uh
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the it's and it's ultimately the community of New Orleans is what really made me fall in love with
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the school but also learning to love the city and the spirit of the people um
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long story short Ralph is one of the first people to uh embrace me when I graduated and I remember when I was
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about to graduate he he basically said yo come sit down meet with me let's talk
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yeah so when I graduated I sat down with him and then um he was the first person to to pull me in he said I have a
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production company called Uncle Ralph Productions I want I want you to work with me so he kind of signed me to Uncle
11:45
Ral Productions and at that point by that time I'd already done like maybe a few videos so it was me finding my way
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cuz I had always known at age 14 that I was going to be a filmmaker okay I'd always knew so it was my calling nice
11:59
you know so yeah so shouts to Ralph McDaniel who I grew up watching I think we all did right and I'll say this I
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don't think Hip Hop today would be where it is if it wasn't for video music box I
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know that sounds like a big statement Fair no but you got to think about the fact that video music
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box pushed hip-hop music for other outlets to play them like an MTV yeah
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they pushed it without that and other shows back in the day you know many many many who I give much
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respect to but I particularly give video music box because it was it was the
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first proponent the first outlet for many people and it was a huge influence
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it was the the trickle that started it all and it's still going to this day still going to this day yes definitely
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um let's go into your music you know the the the music videos that you've uh
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directed in you know New Orleans cuz that that's like really impact for and
13:00
some of the others too well New Orleans the first music video I ever worked on was for Master P uh was called No More
13:05
Tears uh worked out with another director named Quinny Armstrong who uh shouts to him wherever he's at uh but
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yeah that was uh the first music video I ever worked on oneon-one and it was with Master P which is the beauty of the fact
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was I was living in New Orleans and you know to support the local artists back in the day you know we talked about
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Juvenile and cash money um and all these other people um to see them to see them from the
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beginnings or mystical to see them in the beginnings like I used to I used to I was telling people lot the story I
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used to eat lunch with mystical uh College days his name was Michael he used to sneak in because his cousin
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worked on my show so he used to sneak into the lunchroom and there he would be sitting right over there and he was like it's
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Michael and it was mystical did he have the hair he had the hair yeah he did he had the braids even back then um but
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then he became who he was and I was there and blessed to see the the growth of so many people especially in New
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Orleans at that time from mystical from Master P to to juvenile to Little Wayne
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who so I had a show in New Orleans called hip hop half hour uh that's also kind of how Ralph knew me and I I
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modeled my show it was a music video show kind of modeled it after video music box yeah so what I would do is I
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would come during the Summers and record interviews with everybody from new New York yeah so I had biggie I had you name
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it I had everybody and I would put him on the air in New Orleans to show so the
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people in New Orleans had access to artists that they some of them never even got on MTV yet right but they were
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on video music box but they were also on my show in New Orleans wow so I know little Wayne Uh was one of our original
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viewers he would call in every week and give shout outs on the air Little Wayne used to watch our show cuz so I like to
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say that we we helped we helped educate him on hip-hop and and it helped that I'm from
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Hollis Queens New York and I love hip hop and I'm putting it on in New Orleans for the local kids to watch so we were
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we were part of pushing pushing uh culture into the City of New Orleans at an early age without even realizing what
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we were doing but that's what we were doing so that's amazing wow you just said so much I'm so I don't think I've
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ever said this publicly to anybody not publicly on Films yeah no that's that's amazing testimony um wow did you ever
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work with L Wayne no I've never I never got to work Cas no they got really big
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got big I wish I did after P it was kind of like they were everybody blew up so fast even even Jay-Z I I knew Jay back
15:45
in the day we did a concert you're talking about Jay we uh we brought down well me and uh Janine McLean shouts to
15:52
her she's a big manager now M we brought down uh biggie concerts I helped promote it locally okay we brought down biggie
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Junior Mafia and and Jay was the opener and so I knew I knew all them back in
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the day it was interesting I think I was like 21 22 years olding this but uh it
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was interesting to see people blow up so fast right in front of you just right in
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front of you the Split Second people just went from nobody knew who you were to Kaboom yeah because people were
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booing Jay on the stage wow yeah shouts to Jay but they didn't know they didn't know who he was it was it was nothing he
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was good rapping then was was he rapping fast or was he rapping this was the beginning of
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um I I think uh de presence just came out the single and right after that it
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was a song he had with foxy y ain't no it was right before that right like
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right at the the beginning stages of that yeah so nobody knew who he was I remember look Jay-Z came to Delaware and
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performed at my college and after the show was on the corner just standing there
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nobody knew who really who we knew who Jay-Z was but they didn't know they
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didn't understand uh the gravity of the uh the moment you don't know who people are yeah you don't know and uh and Shout
17:12
to him I think he was one of the nicest people I had ever met even to that day he was a really nice guy yeah I would
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see him years later and he's just a nice guy yeah I mean now he's he's here but
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deep inside I believe he's a truly nice person so that's just me so fair enough um how you know you mentioned big and
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interviewing him that's also something that's first of all crazy because I've never met big um but I did see him live
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once but interviewing him that is kind of crazy just dropped that in the interview too like did you have an
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extensive interview was it sure uh we did maybe like three interviews with him
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over the years um I did the first one with him inside of that's a whole another story um one day I'll show you
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the footage but uh we was in a club uh a dark dingy type Club back in the day I
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was the kid with the video camera yeah I mean if if anybody remembers me from back in I was the Asian kid with the
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video camera at every single hip-hop event back in the 90s that was me and I was just running around with my camera
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in New York City in New York City that was crazy everywhere it was me I did it I did it for so many years and I I
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couldn't do it anymore after a while but so that's how I got started you know and I was eager I was excited I was that kid
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with the camera and I was documenting all the artists that I can come up with at that time I got everybody like
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everybody I mean the Pinnacle of me was getting Stevie Wonder on the show I got Stevie I got uh Tina Marie one of my
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favorite artists I have footage of Tina Marie that no one's ever seen that never even aired like long interviews with her
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really oh yeah yeah one day I'll I'll find it I don't itace yeah um but yeah I
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think biggie was was great uh he's he was I mean with me he was shy from what I remember he didn't say much one-on-one
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on the camera he talked yeah he talked yeah yeah yeah that's amazing um has
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hip-hop played a role in you in your well I mean obviously from a director standpoint it's the work has flowed into
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the movies but yeah is are there any other parts that might I mean yeah I mean I don't think I could be where I'm
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at right now if it wasn't for hip-hop you know I think the fact that age 12 you know my mom we I grew up in
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Washington Heights you know which already at that time MH you know it was influenced because of the Bronx we're so
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close to the Bronx right but then age 12 we moved to holl Queens so who else was in holl Queens it was it was Run DMC so
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I mean I've been surrounded by it my whole life yeah right so you can't deny it's a part of my DNA it's everything
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I've done and uh like Run DMC and shout outs to uh run and DMC and all them yeah
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uh they're like my Idols right and then like years later like two years ago I I do a movie for bet called deadly
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entanglement St in Vanessa Simmons the daughter and I told her I said I said your dad's my idol I said this is really
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a full circle moment I'm working with the daughter of my idol yeah it's quite
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amazing but I I by the way I had the um the pleasure of um meeting I've met run
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but like meeting like meeting him meaning it was a different experience
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and then also interviewing him and that was like yo I can't believe this like my dad took me to see them mhm at one point
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and when they came to Delaware and then I went I have oh I have two sign T-shirts from Run DMC and jam masterj
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and Ronny Ray by the way you know it's a it's a it's an heirloom for me yeah yeah
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so anyway sorry but yeah no rund DMC are the kings and JM Master J are the Kings
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yeah shouts to J Master j y great sorry yeah slight detour there okay but yeah
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no yeah that's that's an amazing uh 360 moment I'm sure for sure for sure um
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when you're uh you know doing your thing um what do you what do you what do you think about as it as
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it's like the business and the uh what do you think on those levels like the
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overall business like we're in a weird interesting I I try not to put too much on where we are I use the word
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interesting a lot because I don't want to see the question with anything negative or
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positive but you know there's a lot of streaming going on there's a lot of platforms now a lot of outlets um it
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almost seems like it's an insatiable Beast um but then there's like business
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too does that make sense what I'm saying there's a lot going on yeah I think for
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me there's two sides is the artist and then there's the career business side I think I think
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everybody I'm learning to to embrace my business side a little bit more because I've always been such a creative person
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always thinking just the creative but when you're doing that you you avoid thinking about what are the paths I got
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to take to to embrace the bigger business side because it Works hand inand yeah right because the B the
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bigger your business the more you can create your art yep so you can't live without the other so you're going to harness you have to harness both and you
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should be fully aware I think all artists and also filmmakers I say
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because we're all the same music artists filmakers we're we're kind of the same in some ways we're creatives we should
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always understand the bigger picture of the industry that you're in right so do the research do the studies look at
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what's going on around you uh and build the relation and I think the biggest thing um is building the relationships
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that you need that support you through the years right yeah building relationships that grow that keep you uh
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keep you in your business you know so I think we should learn from successful businessmen um that are doing their
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thing and understand how they did it and then we should take that and and and Implement into our own worlds right so
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another thing I'll say you know in this time and place that we're living
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in there's a lot of things going against you know working against us right and I
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don't mean to say that from a victim standpoint what I'm saying is the art and and especially hip-hop culture and I
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relate that even to me as a filmmaker it's never going to die but sometimes you must go Inward and study yourself to
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understand what type of stories are you trying to tell what type of music are you trying to make what are you trying to leave a lasting influence on in the
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world so I think that's kind of what I think about for me yeah what do I want to say what can I what can I Implement
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into my stories that I'm that I choose to direct as well as write and direct myself for future Generations because
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for me um it is about that yeah it is about generational you know stories that
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we telling you know and and I'll say I'll say this people like Ralph right
24:03
and and all the other video Outlets video shows you know mind and including others that know know me we are we are
24:11
archivers we're archivers of culture you are as well you're an ariver of culture one day years later 50 years from now
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they're going to look back when you started in the 2000s and any anywhere else and you're documenting culture M
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and Hip-Hop culture is Black History modern black history Latino history
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modern New York history and Cali history it's the local history of each city and
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state that has unique music St Louis uh Memphis anywhere Houston New
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Orleans what we're doing is archiving it and it's important to respect it and
24:49
respect the journalists you're a journalist I'm a creative journalist of some ways right um we must respect that
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that what we're doing and understand that you're doing this for a purpose yeah absolutely right respect the journalism behind this especially to to
25:05
keep the culture which is never going to go away even though it's been try it's been attacked and tried to be co-opted
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all this over and over again we we see it all the time yeah but it can't it can't diminish the essence the spirit of
25:18
what's in there that light never goes away I agree right so totally that's how I see it yeah okay what's uh here's a
25:25
fun question what's your favorite movie uh do the right thing oh yeah okay why
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and then Blade Runner I know sound weird it's so it's too I think because wait wait wait wait those are IM both yeah th
25:40
those are two of my favorite movies too for different reasons different reasons
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[ __ ] Le was one of my biggest influences to be a filmmaker as a New York kid you
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know raised in the hood cuz I was I was an Asian kid raised in the hood and to see someone from Brooklyn do his thing
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it it sparked something in me yeah because before that what do you see you see nothing but European directors and
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white directors that don't really I couldn't relate to at that time being me being a local kid from New York City it
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wasn't around my Spectrum right to see someone that I could relate to like oh my God he's creating amazing art yeah or
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even school days for that matter yeah right school days so I think that's what
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triggered in me like oh this is something I could do right you know I I I was able to see
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beyond my environment that I lived in as a kid living in New York right right so
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it sparked something in me Blade Runner I love Really Scott just because of the visuals I think it was just I'm a visual
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person I'm I I draw I paint but then now I just put all that into uh movies yeah
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it's like painting a picture for me right right so when I saw blade runner it's in his vision in 1978 I think of
26:55
the future that looks like Time Square now mhm it was amazing to me it just was like it blew my mind even Star Wars same
27:01
thing but Star Wars didn't affect me as much as Blade Runner ironically right visually there was something about it
27:08
that I was just like wow this is just like futurism what you think of the sequel of Blade Runner it's okay yeah
27:15
not not truly in love with it but it's okay I mean I just didn't like the story there some visually is great there was
27:21
something about the story and how they handled Harrison Ford that bothered me okay they made him look too weak that's just my personal opinion he's the hero
27:28
yeah visually visually is great yeah um who's your who's your favorite actor
27:34
that uh let's just say that you haven't worked with I don't that's hard there's too many yeah too many I mean I think
27:40
the first thing pops in my head is Denzel but I think that's so obvious right that's the obvious thing people are going to say Denzel Angela Basset
27:47
yeah that's like the obvious thing you want to throw in there but uh I don't know so many so many actors what's your
27:55
favorite comedy do you have a favorite comedy o uh I have so many comedies I like um um
28:03
damn uh I like something about Mary I th that that's great yeah um I'm weird I'll take back to Mel
28:10
Brooks okay I'm a big Mel Brooks fan okay I don't know why just some old I
28:16
really like high anxiety have you ever seen high anxiety it's a it's a satire on uh psycho and all these other movies
28:23
okay I can watch that movie over and over and over again okay and still laugh
28:28
and I don't know why I might have to watch oh and also um Galaxy Quest I can watch that movie
28:35
over and over over and over I don't know why I just love that movie okay yeah you want to hear one of mine yeah a movie
28:42
called Which Way Is Up featuring Richard Pryor ah okay have you seen it I don't
28:48
remember it okay you should go wait wasn't that who directed that I don't know who directed that might be Michael
28:54
Michael I don't know I'm not sure who directed it but it was definitely prot for Eddie and Martin so Richard PRI is
29:01
playing about three or three at least three different Ro at least maybe maybe
29:08
a possible four okay it is so funny it is so funny it's like I can literally
29:13
watch it okay now I'm gonna have to watch it over and over anyway it it's probably not but it might be Michael Schultz so Michael Schultz is a director
29:21
that's my mentor that I truly love with him as as a friend as a mentor uh he
29:27
directed Crush GR Ro he directed uh Last Dragon uh I don't know if he directed
29:33
which way is up I'm not sure I need to look that up I know he did car wash and quite a few other amazing movies he did
29:40
disordes can the production team look up Michael Schultz and see if please Joe Buon does that a lot look it
29:48
up shouts to Michael Schultz uh he's still directing yeah uh he's working on
29:53
found and All-American and he has been uh absolutely
29:58
uh instrumental to my career to get me to where I'm at right now so
30:05
so your favorite movie is directed by my mentor Michael sh I'm going to have to
30:10
find that's amazing I haven't seen it so I feel embarrassed but I will watch it oh shoot I'm feeling I remember I was
30:18
like wait a minute yeah that's his biggest yeah coly High sorry coly High how could I forget that
30:25
you're a special gu my goes to crush Groove and and Last Dragon yes I I believe I've met him because of
30:30
the last dragon now I'm not sure but I've met a lot of he is The Man Behind Last Dragon besides uh the writer and um
30:38
uh Mr mtown Barry Gordy so awesome now uh we we talked about Run DMC but you
30:45
know I'm not going to let you get out of here without getting your top five dead or alive oh R yes rappers and uh rockim
30:55
okay probably number one okay uh met rockim love rockim if rockim sees this
31:00
love you to death yeah such one of the best human beings I ever met was rockim nice nice and one of the nicest people
31:06
I've ever met he's cool yeah who I didn't think was going to be so nice he's so nice Biggie Biggie okay um who
31:15
else H this is hard cooi rap Ki rap yeah uh Tupac Tupac I think that's number
31:21
four I don't know if I'm ordering it right I don't know just people are Big Daddy Kane that's Big Daddy Kane shout out those are my top five I'm scho your
31:28
top five can't be beat I don't think those are the people I like I don't think those are the people that that I
31:34
came up growing up yeah loving definitely definitely yo that's so crazy
31:40
man I learned some stuff about you in this interview you did yeah I did okay he knows me very well yeah yeah we're
31:45
like big nerds yeah yeah defin this is my ComiCon my Comic Con crew we do ComiCon every year you know maybe we
31:52
miss a year oh another thing people don't know I'm a video game fanatic yeah that's one no one knows that about are
31:58
you a streamer yet no I don't stream start streaming I don't have time to stream no time to stream you have time
32:04
to play video games that's my personal Joy but you just turn on the TV turn on the thing and then just let it maybe
32:11
maybe that's my personal joy to do that okay start uh it's also where I get stories from you learn Story video games
32:17
are great storytelling tools I like story driven video games I'm not a Call of Duty player that's not me I'm not a
32:24
competitive online player that's why it's not worthwhile to stream that MH it's better to be a streamer if you do
32:29
competitive online gam that's cool I see fortnite Call of Duty what hell divers 2
32:35
whatever you guys are doing yeah that's cool but that's not me gotta so what's your favorite video game of all time of
32:41
all time so this could be met Gear Solid okay and Last of Us those two Last of Us
32:48
storytelling cinematics yeah from a cinematic quality Metal Gear Solid one mhm was ahead of
32:56
its time looked like a movie it felt like a movie okay Last of Us for its
33:02
emotional content it just it it was emotionally compelling it I've never played a game that pulled me in on such
33:09
a level that I was fully absorbed by a character and I'm playing and I'm feeling for the characters I know
33:15
there's games before that that did that but that one encapsulated it even more yeah and it's and it's a movie or I
33:22
remember someone telling me years ago that they were playing Final Fantasy 7 they were crying really and I haven't finished playing that
33:28
don't laugh at me not really a final fantasy person okay but uh I was
33:33
laughing at them I was like really you crying at that really and then I'm playing Last of Us like this is
33:39
emotional oh my God so that's funny okay favorite
33:45
uh video from a directorial standpoint that you have not
33:51
directed favorite the best directed movie that you did in direct oh movie I
33:59
mean I'm sorry rap video rap video rap video um yeah no yeah rap video oh wow
34:10
uh I'll just say there's two there's two directors I I love the most uh I love Francis Lawrence okay he's he end up
34:16
doing um uh all the Hunger Games movies okay but uh I like him as a music video
34:23
director he really yeah he's amazing he did some of the best music videos I've ever seen M okay and he was also
34:29
cinematic yeah uh then Hype Williams how could I mean no one was not influenced
34:34
by Hype Williams as a director none of us and I think he came from St really I didn't know that yeah
34:40
we're all connected in some ways we all came from this is the source right Ralph and vidkid yeah he's he created a lot of
34:47
this stuff even the music videos came out of here first okay but um yeah I
34:53
mean I don't I can't think of the videos right now but I know those two directors are too top in my head that that
35:00
influenced me completely okay you know so let me ask you this my personal
35:05
favorite um or I should say and this is just like off the top is exhibits what
35:12
you see as what you get that was dope I need to look that I haven't seen in so long it's still amazing to this very day
35:20
do you happen to know who directed that I forgot who I can't remember I really but whoever directed it shout out to you
35:26
cuz that that was an I don't know if that's like Dave Myers I don't remember sure it it's it wasn't quite a one take
35:33
video but it was all almost like a one take okay video so yeah Dope video but
35:40
there's so many music videos I love like yeah amazing videos I mean yeah that blew my mind and it's funny now to to
35:47
till today uh since I left music so I was doing music videos till I think
35:54
2017 right and I left I left cold turkey I just stopped I said no it's time to do
36:01
film movies this is what you're you're you're supposed to do I stopped cold turkey I just said no I'm not doing I
36:07
really meant it I never did another one since 2017 and um uh it's weird for me to look
36:14
at music videos now I just look at them differently but then here and there there's a music video that I watch that
36:20
just blows my mind yeah and I said I said kudos to the director whoever did that like there's some really amazing
36:25
music video but then there's some really just generic music videos stuff that I
36:31
it's when you get to the point when you're doing music videos and you feel like you're doing something generic then I knew like for me I'm like oh it's time
36:37
to go right I can't expand anymore because what I did with music videos was every job was a practice of movie making
36:45
every job was a practice of a lighting technique a camera move um storytelling
36:51
I had a lot of stories in my music videos a lot I was always telling a story even theit first music videos I
36:58
did was movish you know because this is what I meant to do yeah so that's that was always my my goal was to practice
37:05
filmmaking and I I give much love to music videos for letting allowing me the blessing to to practice you know yeah
37:13
music videos but again also preserving culture yeah each music video you did we
37:19
did or people do now is a is a remembrance it's a cultural sampling of
37:26
times street wear fashion lingo uh politics that's what music
37:34
videos are that's what hip-hop is at every single moment every single year every single new trend it's what hip-hop
37:41
is yeah and that's what music videos do and I say let's remember the importance of Music let's look at it from a
37:47
historical standpoint right it's so much docent people look at it like that I
37:52
look at music videos like that all the time all the time it's it's what it is now yeah so definitely
37:58
man that's that's um a great take I interviewed MC light and we talked about that because obviously she has a long
38:04
history and I was like where were you here what you know this stage rough neck stage you know what I mean and she would
38:10
really like recap shouts shouts to Big said big said get out of here in the in
38:16
the paper thin video I remember him that's well that's his claim to fame big said he wanted to do a 20 30th
38:23
anniversary of the video I was like said you just want to celebrate you but anyway that's a whole another
38:30
story um yeah well any who um yeah you know wrap wrapping wrapping
38:36
up um you know you you you got a lot more to do yes um what what is your
38:47
vision for the future uh my vision is to continue to tell stories that are that
38:53
are uh based on truth and and and and culture it's everything I do is for the
38:58
culture uh everything I do entertains but also has a deeper meaning behind it
39:04
uh and no matter what genre I do uh I see myself directing not just uh Star
39:09
Wars Marvel type of movies but creating my own my own franchises my own genres
39:15
uh I love sci-fi um fantasy Adventure even horror
39:21
um telling stories that are cultural um that bring light to to
39:26
people that are not seen is is really really important not just in front of the camera but also who you
39:32
hire behind the camera um I'll say one thing about diversity which really bugs me but I will say it say it diversity is
39:41
not about hiring someone just because they are black white women Asian Latino
39:48
LGBT trans it's about giving everybody a chance to get hired that's not a white
39:54
male that is what diversity is because that is the deao reason why the need for
40:00
diversity exists is because the white male is always the deao choice right so
40:06
get that through your head MH if that didn't exist we won't need diversity so for me diversity is about hiring the
40:14
right person yeah and giving everybody an equal chance that's what diversity is
40:20
it's not about forcing anything on anybody right and it just and I can't
40:26
help if a black black actor or Latino or Asian or LGBT whoever or woman is better
40:32
than somebody else here we're going to choose the right person that's what I'm going to do that's what diversity is
40:38
it's leveling the playing field yeah it's not about being unfair it's just
40:43
the unfairness stems from that yes so all these people talking about diversity shut up yeah shut the hell up it's not
40:50
about that definitely it is about giving everyone a sh a fair shot I will hire and choose the right person for the
40:57
right Ro regardless of their race and gender as long as it fits the character
41:02
it fits and hire the right crew member whoever is the most qualified is who I'm
41:08
going to hire I'm not going to hire someone just because they're one thing or another let's get that straight yeah
41:14
and that's what I think people are confusing with the need for diversity programs and it's there for a reason
41:20
yeah if you want to if you want to get rid of it then let's get rid of the source of the problem the source of the
41:26
problem is the racism the misogyny this whatever the homophobia whatever you want to call it that's the problem it's
41:32
not the Diversity Program that wouldn't exist without this so let's get rid of this and then we could talk about do we need this because right now we do need
41:39
this amen you you preaching the day Bobby you preaching I've been like this since I
41:45
was like 18 years old 17 this what I always thought it's never changed it's just people are getting confused I think
41:51
people need to really get it clear their head what the problem is cuz the problem has not gone away since I was 18 17
41:56
years old it's always been there it's just more up front now because we could see it because we all have phones to capture it yeah absolutely well thank
42:03
you for coming here to One World Studios thank you for sitting with myself all hip hop you know what I mean shout to
42:09
all hip hop I yeah thanks I take for granted you and Greg yes yeah you know you're a great person great great
42:15
director and we're going to do some things and we're going to create great stories together that part yes yeah
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