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Good Points
On the whole, you have made very good and very certainly relevant points, Assasin! In fact, very few Jamaican artists can do what their more successful counterparts like Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Elephant Man, Beenie Man, and others have done, that is, hire top-of-the-line music video directors like Canada’s Little X, and the USA’s Benny Boom and Gil Green.
For example, Benny Boom’s work on Sean Paul’s “Like Glue” video is amongst the most outstanding and creative reggae/dancehall music video that I’ve seen to this day. Also, Little X’s work on Sean Paul and Sasha’s “I’m Still In Love With You” is equally as classy in every sense of the word!! (I must add that, in both videos, Sean Paul had the invaluable assistance of the beautiful young Montego Bay-born dance choreographer Taneisha Scott.)
Looking at another example, the remix of Cham’s “Ghetto Story” not only featured Alicia Keys, but it was handled by a major music video director, the American Sanaa Hamri (I believe she’s originally from Algeria, but I could be wrong here). The difference when compared with the original was obvious, as it not merely featured ghetto life, but it added a touch of finesse in an attempt to package the harsh realities for consumption by a mass market internationally.
Looking at Jamaican directors, a local video director like **************** Kassa is obviously working as creatively as he can within the confines of the harsh economic times in Jamaica.
Nevertheless, you are correct in your comment about improved local videos being put out today. While not every one of our local recording artists can afford to afford the quality stuff like Beenie Man often does, we nevertheless have home-grown, beautiful examples. One that comes to mind as I type is Freddie MacGregor’s “Jamaica No Want No Bangarang”. In this video, both the harsh reality of life in downtown Kingston was fused with New Kingston and rural parishes, and the resulting product was very tasteful.
Now, looking at the other side, the simple fact is that not everyone who holds a video camera is a visionary, creative artist! In fact, there are some who would be better off in other career endeavours!
Having said all of that, let’s now look at the scenes in a video such as “Anything Goes” by Wayne Wonder and featuring American rappers Capone ‘N’ Noreiga. What was the point here? When seen in the context of the typical music videos of the 1980s (even a group like Third World, for some reason, found it seemingly necessary to include barefooted children and skinny street dogs in their video), don’t you begin to empathize with the foreigner who, having never visited Jamaica, becomes firmly convinced that Jamaica is nothing but one big ghetto?
Now Assasin, the paragraph immediately above is not an attempt to downplay the harsh economics behind the making of a music video. You are completely correct in your argument about cost! What I tried to show, rather, is how much the high costs of music videos is unwittingly contributing to false, poor impressions of Jamaica by many non-Jamaicans.
Originally posted by Assasin
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For example, Benny Boom’s work on Sean Paul’s “Like Glue” video is amongst the most outstanding and creative reggae/dancehall music video that I’ve seen to this day. Also, Little X’s work on Sean Paul and Sasha’s “I’m Still In Love With You” is equally as classy in every sense of the word!! (I must add that, in both videos, Sean Paul had the invaluable assistance of the beautiful young Montego Bay-born dance choreographer Taneisha Scott.)
Looking at another example, the remix of Cham’s “Ghetto Story” not only featured Alicia Keys, but it was handled by a major music video director, the American Sanaa Hamri (I believe she’s originally from Algeria, but I could be wrong here). The difference when compared with the original was obvious, as it not merely featured ghetto life, but it added a touch of finesse in an attempt to package the harsh realities for consumption by a mass market internationally.
Looking at Jamaican directors, a local video director like **************** Kassa is obviously working as creatively as he can within the confines of the harsh economic times in Jamaica.
Nevertheless, you are correct in your comment about improved local videos being put out today. While not every one of our local recording artists can afford to afford the quality stuff like Beenie Man often does, we nevertheless have home-grown, beautiful examples. One that comes to mind as I type is Freddie MacGregor’s “Jamaica No Want No Bangarang”. In this video, both the harsh reality of life in downtown Kingston was fused with New Kingston and rural parishes, and the resulting product was very tasteful.
Now, looking at the other side, the simple fact is that not everyone who holds a video camera is a visionary, creative artist! In fact, there are some who would be better off in other career endeavours!
Having said all of that, let’s now look at the scenes in a video such as “Anything Goes” by Wayne Wonder and featuring American rappers Capone ‘N’ Noreiga. What was the point here? When seen in the context of the typical music videos of the 1980s (even a group like Third World, for some reason, found it seemingly necessary to include barefooted children and skinny street dogs in their video), don’t you begin to empathize with the foreigner who, having never visited Jamaica, becomes firmly convinced that Jamaica is nothing but one big ghetto?
Now Assasin, the paragraph immediately above is not an attempt to downplay the harsh economics behind the making of a music video. You are completely correct in your argument about cost! What I tried to show, rather, is how much the high costs of music videos is unwittingly contributing to false, poor impressions of Jamaica by many non-Jamaicans.
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