On November 08, 2019 I reached out to this artist named Toosii, a rapper based out of North Carolina, in regards to shooting his music videos. A few months later, he sent me two songs Love Cycle and Mercedez. Based on true events, I came up with narrative and we set a date to shoot both songs back-to-back in Atlanta, GA.
During this time, COVID-19 was at it’s peak and for being a newer artist his budget for his videos wasn’t high at all. At this point, I’ve been quarantined for about 6 weeks not leaving my house and here I am about to go on a plane. Even worse, I watched the movie Contagion before flying out to Atlanta. I packed my face masks, some gloves and as much hand sanitizer I could get my hands on and was on my way.
You got me stuck inside your love cycle
I read your love bible
We give the hood guidance, we keep the hood smilin’
I knew coming into this project that I wasn’t going to make a ton of money so I thought to myself “Why not try to make it the best piece of work I can?” My goal when directing a video for a newer artist is to set the tone visually for the rest of their career. I want the video to be so great that the feedback upon the release is so amazing from their fanbases, they have no choice but to call me back to direct another one.
I learned a lot on this trip to Atlanta, Toosii was a humble individual stating to me “I have never spent more than $500 on a music video.” It’s cool to see artist early in their career before their blow up and to teach the importance of making timeless art that will live forever on the internet to be seen by the whole world.
