Man… if there’s one thing I’ve learned from doing all these videos, it’s that the longest part of the whole process is editing. Trying to figure out what order to put shots in, which shots to use, syncing up lyrics on the track with the mouthing on camera… it’s a JOB, people!
I’m watching a Rick Ross video on BET right now, and I have a whole new respect for what it takes to make a video. This song is probably 3 to 4 minutes long, yet the shoot probably took 2 to 3 days, and HOURS to edit together. No wonder movies take so long to come out after they’ve been shot!
Anyway, I’ve been getting a lot of praise from people for my videos, which is a double-edged sword. I like making visuals that I think people like, but as I said in the beginning of this whole thing, not ALL my videos are going to be home runs. Part of this is a learning process to see what does and/or doesn’t work when making videos, as well as songs. The last 4 videos just happened to involve songs that I was able to create a visual story line for – again, do NOT expect that each week!
Especially this week. Between work and visitors coming into town, I will definitely NOT have the time to create an outstanding video. With that said, though, I’ve already finished the song for this week. I figured since I had the day off, I might as well do it today so I’d have time to make the video for it before Thursday. This will be a basic video, probably one-shot with very few edits, but sometimes simplicity is best for a music video. Plus, it’ll be a good way to re-set people’s expectations!
Attention Colleges, Universities and More (especially in Atlanta):
Demand A.P.T. to perform in your city at your venue! Go to: www.eventful.com/apt and request a performance by ME - the more invites I get, the better chance you have of seeing me perform in your town!
DOWNLOAD “THE O-BAMA MIXTAPE” – Click HERE for the link!
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This week’s song/music video is for the song, “Back to the Future.”
I’ve actually had the idea for this song for almost two years now. I came up with the chorus when I was showering one day, and it stuck with me from them up until now.
I’ve also gone through many free-styled versions of the song, but never seemed to have a microphone around when I did. Despite this small setback, I knew the chorus was catchy enough to eventually sit down and write a song to it.
Then came this previous week. I was going to do a video for a song I had already recorded, but sometimes life comes into play and makes you want to write about emotions you’re feeling right there at that moment. And so it was with this song.
The song is called “Back to the Future” because, in the song, there is a conversation that takes place between my present self – i.e. “previous me” – and my future self – i.e. “future me.” Previous me is pissed off because his life situation isn’t as glamorous as he’d like it to be, and the people around him – friends, girls, etc. – aren’t as reliable as he’d like them to be. He calls up future me to vent and ask if he ever succeeded in his goals.
Future me, meanwhile, acts as a sounding board for previous me in the first act, then reassures his former self that, with a little patience and hard work, he will eventually reach his dreams.
I was prompted to write this song after various events that happened to me this week. I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say, there were parts of this past week where people were either unreliable, didn’t stick to what they said they would do, or just blew me off completely without any explanation. It happens quite often, actually, as I’m sure it has to all the other people who were ignored or mistreated by others prior to becoming famous. Oh well – makes fodder for good song material!
I had another beat in mind for the song, one that I would have had to create myself. Unfortunately, it involved a sample from a Nintendo game, and the company is not known for making it easy to get a sampling licence. Luckily, I found this beat online a while back, courtesy of FreQ BeatZ, and it sounded bouncy enough to get people’s heads bobbin, while at the same time allowing a sense of hope to be felt on the track.
Some Interesting Song Tidbits:
1. The original version of this song had a LOT more cussing in it than this version does. However, now that I have family members checking out my page, I figured I should probably keep the cussing to a minimum, and only use it as a last resort (i.e. if the word I’d try to use to replace it would just sound silly).
2. The addition of the “phone voice” was added in last minute. I was trying to figure out a way I could make a distinction in the two voices when they were on the phone with each other aside from changing the octave of my voice, but couldn’t figure out how to call myself. It didn’t dawn on me until AFTER I had finished recording it that my phone had voice recorder on it! I was considering doing the entire second verse in phone voice, but I would have had to re-record the ENTIRE song, and plus it would sound annoying hearing that for a full 16 bars!
3. In making a song, I have to make the scenarios relatable to everybody, not just me. Therefore, some of the things mentioned out of anger by the “character” in the song – hating the job, clothes being a mess, friends laughing at me – are only partially true. I like my job most of the time, I do have a few clothes that look decent, and my friends don’t laugh at me for following my dreams (helping me out, however, is a different story). However, all these things DO happen to other people, so they are mentioned.
INSIGHT INTO A VIDEO SHOOT:
I could type about this all day, but I’ll try to make it short. The video shoot took 2 days. In the first part of the video, you’ll see me at this restaurant called “Willy’s” which is right down the street from where I live. Because I had to get three time-periods (day, dusk, and night), I had to go back to the restaurant 3 times and be able to sit at the same exact table each time to film.
Amazingly, each time I went, the table I used was the ONLY table not being used! Thank you, God!
The next day, I filmed the scenes for “future me” at a nearby parking lot. I did it during the day time because I wanted there to be a contrast between “future me” – who’s career and dream outlook is sunny – and “previous me,” who’s scenes were done at night to contrast with his feelings of dispair. Yes, people, I really put a LOT of thought into this stuff!
I was going to film the nighttime scene that very same evening after I got home from work, but I think I got tired or something, and went to sleep. I woke up at 5:15 Saturday morning, and thought to myself: “I do NOT want to be filming this Saturday night, and then trying to edit this whole thing by Sunday morning!”
I only had about an hour-and-a-half before daylight would start to hit, so I ran downstairs and filmed the “coming home from the restaurant at night” scene, even though it was taped in the morning
The hardest part of this entire video was the editing. I went to Starbucks and spent 3 hours editing it, only to have my Windows Movie Maker program crash the program! I had to start from scratch, and when I did, THAT program crashed also! None of the programs would play after I saved them, and I got so mad, I had to quit and leave the coffeeshop for some R&R.
I detoured to Target to see about buying another editing program, but they costs a LOT of money! Finally, I said “screw it,” and figured I would just post up another video that I’d already done. Imagine my surprise, then, when, upon getting home, the program decided to up and work (almost) perfectly for the remainder of the evening.
Still, I WANT A MAC!!
Some Interesting Video Shoot Tidbits:
1. I originally had another opening for this video, consisting of me preparing for my date. This was in the original edit before my program crashed, and after looking over it again, I realised that, although I liked the opening, it took way too long to get to the song. YouTube people tend to have short attention spans, so I shortened the opening (which included the clips you see now at the beginning).
2. I usually like to include other pics and/or shots of me doing stuff within the song. However, I really wanted this to look like a conversation between two people, and felt like adding all those other elements would distract from it. The only outside bits of film in the video are the train and the scene where I’m asking the girl out – everything else is just me and myself!
3. You may be asking, “what’s with the look of the ‘future me’ clips?” Well, the artsy way of answering it would be, since most people only have an idea of what they THINK their future will look like, I figured giving the “future me” clips an outline look would symbolize the incompletion of thought this successful future has. After all, we don’t know what cars, buildings, or other surroundings will look like, but the outline of future progress is always looming.
But really, I just like the way it looked
4. The car in the video is NOT my car, nor did I vandalize someone’s property. Atlanta has a ZipCar program which allows people like me to sign up for usage of cars stationed throughout the city. Since I am part of the program, I was able to use the car as a prop without getting in trouble. This is called “creative strategy,” people!
5. Lastly, it’s a bit ironic that I mention in the song how friends won’t help me. My friend, Michele, was more than happy not only to send me a “rejection” text message (at the EXACT time I asked for it, no less!), but to call and leave a “no-show” message for me to use! It’s also ironic that she’s playing the part of the “unreliable girl,” since she’s always been very reliable to me. Thanks, Michele!
So, there’s your insights for this week’s song/video. Enjoy, and I’ll see you next week!
Today has been a GREAT day in the world of A.P.T.! Come along with me as I tell you about it!
Okay, so first off: I recorded the first layer vocals for my song for this Sunday. I hate recording in an apartment because it has thin walls and everybody that walks by my apartment can hear me. I tried to keep my voice down, but at the same time I wanted to emote the feelings I had on the song, and the only way for me to do that was to get a lil’ loud.
After I recorded the first part of the song, I hear a knocking on my door. I’m thinking, “Oh great, here comes my neighbor again complaining about the noise…” But when I opened the door, it was actually a tatooed-up guy who came down from the third door… to compliment me on my skills!
“You’re f’in awesome, man – you got some tight lyrics!” I don’t know why, but I’ve always enjoyed the fondness of my music from strangers! Must be an ego thing. Anyway, he told me his girlfriend lived upstairs, and that they liked hearing what I was doing. He also asked me if I got high (uh, NO), and if he could come down sometime and hear some of my stuff (heck YEAH!).
I think I just got my first in-bound music fan in Atlanta!
Anyway, once I finished up the song, I got to filming the first part of the video. I don’t want to give away too much, except to say the concept involves me talking to myself in some capacity. For this part, I need to have two different looks, so I’m filming the first part with me having a mustache and a 5-o’clock shadow, while the second part will involve me having no mustache and looking a lil’ more preppy.
This will probably end up being a 3-day shoot, and I can’t even begin to imagine what the editing is going to be like!! Either way, I have off work all day Saturday, which means I got the entire day to roam around free and film/edit!
And, to make it even BETTER, I actually found someone to help me out with the video! Once again, the person is from out-of-state (sidebar: what is it with my out-of-state friends having time to help me out, while my in-state friends are “too busy”?!?), but she did a GREAT job for her part! It’s so nice to have reliable people in your life, ya know?
Okay, so I had an idea for a video for a song that I already recorded… and was going to start filming it today…
But somehow, in the midst of trying to cast for it, I started thinking about my life recently – the people in it, the things I have going on in gerenal – and I ended up thinking up another video idea for a song that I hadn’t even written yet, and only had the chorus to in my mind!
SO, while the video idea I have for the other video will probably be made NEXT week, THIS week’s video will now be about the new song I just finished writing and half-way recorded. I say “half-way” because I’ve only recorded parts of it. I live in a studio apartment with neighbors that get home in the evening, which means I can’t finish recording it until tomorrow.
However, once I DO finish recording it, I’ll be making the video for it tomorrow as well. I’ll probably make the video for the other song on Saturday – I have people coming into town to see me next weekend, which means I won’t have time to make a video then, and I’m just guessing they probably don’t want to be in an internet video (seeing as many of my other friends do not seem to want themselves blasted virally around the internet. You’d think I was filming porn or something!!).
First thing’s first: thanks to everybody that has watched/dowloaded my newest video/song, “Obama, Obama (a Remake of Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli”).” In just 2 days it’s gotten close to 100 views, and since the Presidential election is a mere 4-1/2 months away, I can only see the song growing in popularity.
So, it dawned on me: part of the reason I’m doing this whole project is to get people to (b) become fans of my music, and (b) request me for gigs… yet, lo and behold, I haven’t left any contact info for people to get in touch with me!! Duh, Aaron!
If you’re reading this and would like to send me fan mail, request me for collaborations, ask about me making beats for you (I do that too – more of my own beats will be used on songs in the future), or inquire about doing a gig, here is my official email address:
Not too hard, right?? I’ll be sure to leave this email address in all my posts from now on.
Anyway, this site has really started to take off! Now that I’m making videos on a regular basis, it’s becoming a bit easier to think of ideas for song visuals. I still don’t have other people to help me out yet, but I’ve thought of some good ideas involving just myself. I like to invoke stories into most of my songs, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to represent that even if I’m talking about another person in the song.
Next week’s song is already in the can, and the visual for it is going to be easier to edit than last week’s video, which took 8 hours. Part of the reason it took so darn long is because I had to be able to match up the vocals of the song with when I said them on screen. You’d be amazed how long it takes to sync up song vocals with on-screen wording – even the slightest little mouth movement has to be watched to make sure it’s being done right, and even THEN you can still mess up!
For next week’s video, though, I won’t be mouthing to the camera, so it should cut the edit time in half. The song itself is an MC song, meaning there’s not a story to it, it’s just me talking about how good I am at what I do. The visual, however, does have a story, and it’s going to be…. well, I ain’t giving it away yet, but it’ll be pretty good!
I’m actually glad I’m doing this whole thing now, as it gives me things to do during the day when I’m not at work. I don’t really hang out with too many people in this town, mostly because the people I know are usually too busy at their job to want to hang out, and when they do hang out they do stuff I don’t find all that fun, i.e. drinking, smoking, more drinking, more smoking, and partying at places where they can – you guessed it – drink and smoke.
And frankly, I find none of that stuff fun. To me, it’s just a life-waster – it’s as if the person said, “you know what? I’m trapped in my own life and have no goals for myself, so I’m going to spend my down time doing things that will numb me of life’s pain.”
The sad part? These people have life goals they once aspired to, and even now they might SAY they want to do something, but, in the words of Lil Wayne (and, for the record, I can’t believe I’m actually quoting this guy), “They just talkin’ bout it.” They don’t plan to actually follow through with their imagined goals, so they don’t try to reach them. I’d like to think that, even if this whole plan doesn’t work out, I’ll get at least a lil’ credit for TRYING.
‘Nuff said about that – I got some other sites to attend to, more music to make, and another video to map out. Peace!
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INSIGHT INTO A SONG:
I’ve been a fan of “Weird Al” Yankovic since the 1980s. His parodying of other people’s songs were always hilarious to me, and when I started writing songs I basically did what he did: took a subject, found a song that I could bastardize with said subject, and make the old song funny via my new song.
Eventually I started writing my own songs sans the parody, but every once in a while a song will come out that makes me think of a chorus or song lyric that makes it worth trying to remake the original.
It is with that thought that I present today’s song, “Obama Obama.” It’s a remake (read: not a direct parody) of one of the hottest songs out right now, Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli.” I swear, everywhere I walk in Atlanta I hear cars passing by playing that song… but it hasn’t gotten old to me yet!
Originally, I was going to remake the song saying my initials in lieu of the words “A Milli” (i.e. “A.P.T., A.P.T., A.P.T., A.P.T….” yeah, it matches up – go ahead and try it!), but I didn’t think that would make the song funny enough in concept. Then, one day at work, it just hit me: instead of saying my name, I could use Obama’s! That would give me a whole LOT to write about!
People think making a parody song is easy. WRONG! I spent more time on this one song that on all the other songs I have on here so far (except for “Erectile Dysfunction,” which is a REAL parody and took a while to write).
Unlike an original song, a re-make/parody has to have other elements that will make people laugh. The song structure has to be similar to the original, as does the beat, certain ad-libs, voice inflection… parodying is a JOB, people!! As such, I had to listen to that darn “A Milli” song about 50,000 times this week before I could even start writing it!
And with the subject matter – Barack Obama – there’s so many angles I could write from. I wanted to try and bring mention to as many Barack-related election issues as possible. Not issues in the sense of “this is what Obama’s all about,” but more like, “these are some of the things that have been tied to his campaign.” In the course of the song, I mention the flag pin thing, his middle name being Hussein, Pastor Wright, the KKK, and other things I won’t mention because I don’t want to give away the whole song here
Once I finished writing the song, I had to go back and try to mock Lil’ Wayne. He raps like a skitzo on the song, constantly changing his flow and pronunciation of words, so when I recorded it I had to record each set of verse by itself, listening to Wayne’s version immediately before recording mine. Truly, again, it was like a JOB, only fun!
Some Interesting Song Tidbits:
(1) Because I couldn’t find the original beat without the words “A Milli” being said over and over again, I had to re-make the beat from scratch. I have a Fruity Loops program, and, after studying the original beat very carefully, I realized how simplistic it is: outside of the “A Milli” sample, the entire beat is nothing more than an 808 drum, a clap, and a tap drum, played in the same pattern ad nausea! I can’t believe the original person got PAID for it – and probably a lot, too!
(2) Re-doing Lil’ Wayne’s voice is hard. My usual voice is a little deep, but Weezy sounds… well, Weezy, and nasely. That’s why my voice in this song sounds higher and more strained than usual.
(3) My favorite line in the song is the one following the line: “Rednecks saaaay he won’t beat John McCain…” I won’t spoil it for you here, but needless to say, some racist White people have some very dumb reasons NOT to vote for Barack!
INSIGHT INTO A VIDEO SHOOT:
Coming up with a video idea for this song was even HARDER. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and there were many direction I could go.
My first idea was to act like I was a representative speaking on behalf of Barack, but I didn’t have a podium for a prop. The second idea was to dress up like Lil’ Wayne – I almost did this, and was going to buy a dread lock wig… but when I called the costume/wig shop they said it would cost more than I wanted to spend. Too bad – I think I could have pulled it off (except for me being light-skinned and Wayne being… well, much darker!).
By the time Saturday hit, I still didn’t have too much of a concept, other than I wanted to hang up a blue background with pics of Obama campaign signs behind me. I also knew I didn’t just want to spend the whole video in one outfit. I filmed the first segment with me wearing the blue striped shirt and black dress pants, and was trying to figure out what to wear next…
And that’s when it hit me: I could be three characters, each one representing a potential Obama voter!
When you see the video, the guy in the blue-striped shirt is the middle-aged working guy. The second person – the one with shorts, a sideways hat, and a “Las Vegas” shirt – is an older teenager (18 or 19 – I can still pull it off for a few more years!). The third guy – wearing a brown jacket-like shirt over a white shirt with brown slacks – is an older gentleman. Looking back, I wish I had whited up my thin beard with flour… but his movements are slower than the other two, so hopefully it’ll be distinquishable.
I also decided to keep the camera in one position. I got this idea from my last video, “Smile 4 Dad (Letter 2 My Father), where I did a small scene with me in front of a stone statue, and sliced it up to look like I was in different places chopped-up style. The result is I am constantly changing into 3 people, while having it look like the rest of the scene is stationary. GENIUS!
Some Interseting Video Tidbits:
(1) I use pictures throughout the video. There is one girl you will see in various video pics – her name… will not be given out on the internet until I get the okay to do so, but she is a very good friend of mine and a HUGE Barack Obama supporter. I wanted her to film a small part for me to include in the video and send it to me (she lives in another state), but she had to go out of town. Luckily, she was nice enough to allow me to use some of her pics from one of the Obama rallys she went to. It’s so nice to have friends that want to help out, so THANK YOU!!
(2) I printed out the Obama signs used in the background. The one hanging by itself near the left of the camera starts out blue at the top, and starts turning pink at the bottom. The reason: my printer started to run out of ink. Such is the world of home-made music videos!
(3) Actual shoot time for this video took about an hour. Actual edit time: about 8 hours. Editing is NOT as easy as it looks. I say that to say: I worked hard on this video, so SHOW IT TO EVERYBODY YOU CAN!!
That’s all for now – see you next Sunday!
-A.P.T.
P.S. Here are the lyrics to “Obama Obama,” as requested by… well, many people:
Intro:
A.P.T.!
Yeah I’m goin’ in…
Verse 1:
Call him “President,” he’s the next new President here
Senator, from Illinois, yeah
His criteria compared to John McCain just isn’t fair
Cause he’s B-L-A-C, so the eyes are on he
Through his pencil, he write legislation, with the country on his mind
And he don’t coat ish, cause he ain’t got time
Every second, minute, hour, KKK wanna devour
He got guards ready to pop ‘em, with their ch-ch-ch-ch-choppers
Every brother, mother, sister, cousin, grandma wanna hump him
Even got Hilary Clinton on the side ready to jump him
Tell the Clintons “Ha ha ha ha,” couldn’t catch him, couldn’t stop him
They go by the party rules, if you can’t beat him, you can’t top him
Thought she’d smack him, couldn’t pop ‘em, Delegates, couldn’t cop ‘em
Bill Clinton couldn’t help her, too bad she couldn’t drop ‘em, woo!
Man, Obama‘s so Illlll…
Verse 2:
Obama goes here, Obama goes there
Sayin’ “Yes We Can” with wife Michelly, he’s hittin’ that derriere
He travel to Arizona, ready to cause some drama
Hopin’ McCain will comment, “Look at that bastard Obama
He’s too young, he’s too hip, Negros always ‘causin’ problems”
His pale-lookin’ face got him lookin’ like a goblin!
Mac-Cain, Mac-Cain, please don’t vote for Mac-Cain
First day up in office, talkin’ ‘bout some heart pains
Call the ambulance, QUICK! All you hear is sirens
His temper isn’t private – Dang, I hate a mad prick
Don’t you hate a mad prick? Plus, McCain’s an old prick
Barack’s a younger guy, So choose him, he’s the right pick
(Laugh) But if you choose the wrong pick
Your step-son’ll probably end up in Iraq quick!
His health clan plan is so immac’late
So even if your broke, and can’t afford to take a doc trip
You’ll be feelin’ much better – not sick
And, he’s okay, but his wife’s sick
And her back’s thick, And her walk’s slick
She’s a fly chick – I’d hit!
Man, Obama‘s so Illlll…
Verse 3:
He’s makin’ history like X, King and Douglas, and RFK
Obama, he’s that “new black,” true that
Red-necks saaaay “He won’t beat John McCain
He don’t wear a flag pin, his middle name’s Hussein,” but
Who gon’ be dat boy dat doubt dat boy dey call “Obama”
Got Republicans sweatin’ like they up in Saunas (whew!)
Even McCain’s 90-something mama
Be ready to pull his lever every hour (Laugh)
And I’d rather eat a field mouse
Than to see John McCain in the White House
Vote Obama in, and I promise
He won’t turn back into some Uncle Thomas (Aaaaaa!)
No Aunt Jemimah or Southern Fried chicken
Call him “Chief Obama,” or “Mr. Keeps on Tickin”
Man, Pastor Wright’s comments couldn’t stop his tally
Even Oprah Winfrey said she was behind him
People, I say this country’s no hope without him
But he’s gotta go out and relate to everybody
He do what he do, like give his wife a hug and then a fist dap
Gotta do that stuff in public, so the hood’ll know that -
He’s black
Gotta use big words, white people love to hear it
If they hear it, they don’t fear him, they don’t know him, but they feel him
That’s real….
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I just spent the entire day at work, and it was not exactly the best day on the job. Sigh… I don’t want to complain too much on this blog, though, so I’ll just say: I hate working for someone else, and I can’t WAIT until I’m making money from doing this or selling other things so I no longer have to rely on one!
There, it’s been said.
Speaking of the job, it dawned on me today that, since I’m looking for people to star in some of my music videos (so it won’t just always be me as the sole star), I could ask some of my co-workers if they’d be down to help me out.
Sigh…
I wish I was famous already, if only so I wouldn’t have to hear “no” when I asked people, “Hey, wanna star in a music video?” If I was Ludacris or 50 Cent, women would be dropping everything – including their draws – to be in it for even a second, and guys would be rallying up their homeboys to be at my video shoot.
As such, though, I’m NOT famous, so, instead of “yeses,” I get to hear a lot of excuses and “no’s.” You would think your friends would want to help you on your quest to achieve your dream, but, 9 times out of 10, if it’s not THEIR dream, they could really give a flying you-know-what. This is how it is in the “Before” life of being famous. I’m sure when I’m in the throws of the “After” part of fame, I’ll be talking about how all my friends hate me because I won’t let them star in my videos. Should have been there for me in my “Before” life, people!!
With that said, though, I DID get a few “yeses.” One girl co-worker seemed genuinely happy to help me out, while a couple of the guys said they’d do it – for FREE. Gotta love that. Plus, I have a friend who lives in Washington that said she’d film parts for a video and send it to me – how great is that? I have friends that live near me that won’t help out, yet people from far away want to? Sounds messed up to me, but I’m happy to get the help anyway and from anywhere I can!
As for this week’s song/video… well, last week’s video was great, artistic, loved by a lot of people, very moving, etc…
So, this week’s video is NOT going to even try to top it!
Since I’m doing a parody… okay, it’s not really a “parody,” it’s more like a re-working of a song – I’m simply going for trying to make it look funny. At the moment, I can’t tell you what song I’m reworking or even the title of it, lest it give away the entire concept, but I will say this: it involves me wearing a wig (if I can find the right one), possibly having some tatoos drawn on, and certain events happening this year. That’s all I can say.
I have to go shopping tomorrow morning, and record the song so I can film the video Friday or Saturday morning. In between time, I’m going to go see “The Love Guru,” and – if I have time – “Get Smart.” I still have no idea where I’m going to film the video, but it definitely will NOT be as artsy or complicated to film as the last video. Set your expectations low, people – that way, you’ll be able to thouroughly enjoy the video when you see it!
First: it’s 3:16 AM in the morning, and I have yet to go to sleep. I think I’m starting to get used to requiring less and less sleep to function during the day – a good thing, actually, considering the business I’m trying to get into!
Anyway… so, like I’ve said before, having this site has opened up the flood gates in terms of my creativity. Of course, even I know that, as a person currently doing all this stuff solo, there’s only so far I can go before I’ll want to involve other people. One of these avenues, of course, is my music videos.
Some of the songs I write tell stories where I’m interacting with other people. The problem is, at the moment I’m the only person starring in these videos, and the few people I know here in Atlanta seem to be camera shy (or, at the very least, opposed to appearing on YouTube, lest the whole world see it). It sucks because I have all these great ideas for videos, but can’t use them at the moment because I don’t know anybody willing to help out…
Well, scratch that – I just found out today that one of the girls I work with actually got her degree in… well, I forget, but it involves casting, and she said she might know some up-and-coming actors looking to build up their resume by starring in my videos. Which works great for me – I wouldn’t have to pay them (though I probably would so they could put on their resumes that they were “paid” to be in a video), and I could expand my video-making capabilities!
In the meantime… so, I was going to shoot one video, but I really want to use another girl and guy in the video. I’m going to try my darndest to get them; in the meantime, though, I thought of a GREAT song I could do this week. It’s a great idea because it involves me re-making one of the hottest beats currently out there, while at the same time talking about certain current events in this country.
I can’t give too much away, but I’m pretty sure this song will end up being as big as “Erectile Dysfuction” is (currently at 11,000 views and counting!). I know of at least one person who will like the song (I’m talking about YOU, Ms. Goff), which is enough reason for me to make it. I haven’t written the song yet, and the only thing I have so far is the chorus, but I have off all day Friday to make the song AND record the video. (Well, that, and I’ll probably catch a movie – can we say “Love Guru” AND “Get Smart” in the same day?!?)
Okay, that’s it from me – I’ll probably write more later this week. Then again, maybe not. Either way, definitely check back here Sunday!
First, I’d like to begin by saying “thank you” to everyone who recently viewed my most recent video, “Smile 4 Dad.” It truly was a symbolic father’s day gift to my Dad, but I had no idea how many people I’d touch with the song. It also received quite a few downloads, so again, THANK YOU, and remember, I have other songs for download on the site, too!
Anyway… now that I’ve started this site and practically dared myself to make up a song each week, the ideas have been flooding in! I listen to new beats at least 3 times a week now, and I usually just listen to them and freestyle something off into each beat I like. The freestyles that end up having good choruses or concepts are the ones I keep – I like to do it that way because…
…well, if you just write a song, it usually ends up having the same pattern of rhyme. Ever heard a song by Plies before (think, “Shawty” featuring T-Pain)? His pattern sounds the exact same through each line of his songs, and it annoys me. That’s why I like rappers like Jay-Z and Eminem – even if they write some of their lines (Eminem more than Jay-Z), they’re smart enough to change up their style thoughout the song, so as to take their listeners on a musical journey.
I found myself doing the same thing at one point; now, I mix freestyle lyrics in with written lyrics so I won’t just be reading into a pattern. For example, in “Shout Out to My Big Girls,” the whole first verse was originally a freestyle, while the second verse is mostly written – both verses sound drastically different from each other, yet they both go with the rhythm of the song.
Yes, you’d be surprised how much thought I put into these songs, people! I could type about it all day, but unless you’re a music nerd like me, it could get pretty boring.
With all that said, I’m working on new songs right now, and already recorded parts for next week’s music video today! This is SO much fun, people, and I’d like even MORE people to check out the site, so feel free to send your friends the link:
Oh yeah – if you’ve read this far, here’s a treat: a brief video of my recording “studio!” I live in a studio aparmtent, so legally, I can say I have my own studio, ha ha ha! Check it out below:
This week’s song/video is called “Smile 4 Dad (Letter 2 My Father)”.
This song appears on the following mixtape:
THE NEXT BLACK PRESIDENT (a.k.a. BACK ON MY GRIND)!
Featuring the hits: “Go Hard Remix” with DJ Khaled, Kanye West and T-Pain, plus “O-bama O-Bama MegaRemix” with Tyga, “#1” with Jay-Z, “Where My Money At” and more!!
FREE DOWNLOAD! Click HERE for mixtape and download info!!
This past week has been, surprisingly, emotionally tough for me.
My Dad died when I was 9 years old, at the age of 41, from lung cancer tumors. At the time… well, me and him were very, very close, and his death hit me real hard.
Of course, as time goes by, one tends to be less emotional when talking about their dead relative. See – I can even call him a dead relative and not be bothered by it!
It’s been 17 years since his death, and I’m long past the days where I’d cry every time I thought about him, or get upset when I’d heard a certain song on the radio that reminded me of him. To this day, I still can’t listen to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” without wanting to break down in tears. Clearly, that song is not on my iPod.
However, this week it hit me real hard. Part of it is because (a) Father’s day is celebrated today, and (b) my parents anniversary was June 11th. Had he still been alive, they would have been happily married for 30 years.
I decided to get my Mom an anniversary card to mark what would have been a momentous occasion. She never remarried, so I figured that, after 17 years, she should be able to receive acknowledgement of her marriage date. I went to Target to pick out a card…
…and it’s very hard to find a card that doesn’t say “Hope you 2 celebrate the day together.” I had to read through almost 15 different cards before I found one that said “Happy Anniversary, Congratulations on your Achievments.” In the process of doing so, I started to get real emotional. Just thinking about the fact that other people are out there celebrating marriages, some by people who aren’t even in a happy relationship, while my mom lost a great guy who…
Sigh… well, it annoys me.
Anyway… so, in the midst of all this, I found this beat online with the chorus already mixed in. It’s a very interesting chorus, talking about “Smile like you mean it” and “Say goodbye, to the world you thought you lived in…” and the beat itself was very upbeat.
I didn’t know if I’d be able to do anything with the beat at first, but then I started thinking that the subject matter of the chorus would match well with a song about my Dad. It took me about 2 hours to write the song, messing with a few ideas here and there and finally deciding the song should be an open letter to my Dad about how I felt about his death and the time since then.
Some Interesting Tidbits About the Song:
(1) Most of my songs have a voice-over dub, where I say a lyric in a song twice to make it stand out. However, I wanted this one to sound like I was speaking directly to him, and no one has a voice-over dub when they talk to someone.
(2) The line in the song where I say, “Finding out you had that tumor nearly ripped my ass apart/Oops, sorry – I meant ‘behind’,” is pointing out that, as kids, we weren’t allowed to curse around our parents. The “oops” is in reference to the fact that I “accidentally” said “ass” in the previous line. Genius!
INSIGHT INTO A VIDEO SHOOT:
This video ended up being a two-day shoot – a lot for me, considering I like to be able to do my videos in less than an hour.
I wanted to make the majority of the video look like a dream. The video is in black and white because most books say that people dream in black and white. I don’t know what they’re talking about – I can clearly see color in my dreams – but it made for a good contrast between when I’m in the “real” world versus the “dream” world. I also posterlized the video so it would seem less like reality.
I shot the video in the park because (a) I live right across the street from it, and (b) my Dad took us (I have a brother) to the park a LOT as kids. The hardest part of the shoot was trying to make it look like I was alone by myself. On the first day of the shoot, it was sunny outside, and there were a LOT of people running around. I wanted to shoot on the playground at the swing, the slide, and the baseball field, but they were crowded with people.
Then, it rained, and I couldn’t keep filming. 2 days later, I planned to film again, but it rained early in the morning real hard.
I wasn’t going to shoot anything, and was going to delay the video… but then the rain stopped, it got a little bit lighter outside, and it hit me: since the playground was wet, nobody would be out there using any of the equipment!
I got my camera and ran to the playground. Sure enough: NOBODY. Well, a few drifters here and there, but for the most part, I had the place to myself.
Okay, so this is where I get all “artsy”: The theme of the video is “The Last Day.” I wanted to film it as though I was spending one last day with my Dad at the playground, and the things in the video are activities I did with him when he was alive.
In the first sets of shots, I slide down the slide, swing on the swing set, and run around the bases on the field. During the last few shots, however, those same places are revisited, only now there is less activity going on there because my Dad is no longer around: there’s no one to cheer me on at the slide, push me on the swing set, or play catch/baseball with me on the field. I’m looking around to see him, but I’m the only one there…
Intermixed with that footage is footage of me “writing” the letter (i.e. the song) to my Dad. I actually had about 8 mintues of footage of me doing this, but the few shots I have in there were enough.
Towards the end, I run into the field and collapse on the ground. I was most impressed with this shot because I wanted myself to be at the very bottom of the screen, contrasting with the huge set of clouds – i.e. heaven – that my Dad has now gone into that I, for the moment, cannot follow. I set up a fake camera stand for all my shots, but since I’m the only one doing all the filming, I never know how a shot is going to turn out until I review it, and this one came out great.
As for the ending… well, you’ll have to watch. However, there is a cameo by my Dad at the end of the video.
So, that’s all the insight I can think about for this song/video! I don’t do too many “serious” or “emotional” songs, so I hope you enjoy my attempt at it here.
That’s all for now – see you next Sunday! (And, happy father’s day to those whose fathers have come and gone.)
