If I hadn’t mentioned it before, Big K.R.I.T. is the future. He’s a complete hip hop package; producer and MC. The Mississippi native has been bringing it for a while and really came on the scene with his stellar K.R.I.T. Wuz Here Mixtape in 2010 and then blew it open with his follow up Returnof4Eva at the top of 2011.

@BIGKRIT’s production recalls bangers by early UGK and reminiscent of ATLiens – Stankonia Outkast. The undeniable banger from ReturnOf4Eva is the “Country Shit” rmx ft. Ludacris & Bun B. and it appears its getting the video treatment; check out the behind the scenes below:

Hit this link, here, to cop ReturnOf4Eva.
by @social8gency

I caught with one of the young guns in music video directing, SMKA affiliated Dustin Chambers, and all around top notch dude.  One of the guys that I’m expecting to see a lot from this guy in the future so good to drop into Dustin Chambers & The SMKA Experience.

Was directing always where you felt you wanted to be?

Yes and no. When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a director, then in college I wanted to be a documentary photographer, and at this point I do about 50% video and 50% photojournalism. They’re two very different types of storytelling, though I find that my documentary photo style seeps into my music videos quite often. I’ve always connected less with directing narratives and more about creating rhythmic visuals.

Where are you originally from?

Atlanta, GA.

Has your hometown/how you grew up affected your outlook on filmmaking at all?

I grew up in a very visually literate family; my mom is a painter and my dad is an advertising photographer, so I was always around it. As I got older we would pick apart commercials and photos as we saw them in passing, so I really learned what a successful visual was, what an unsuccessful visual was, and most importantly, what elements made them each that way.

Who inspired you to get into the field?

It’s hard to say. I of course have my favorite directors, but in terms of music video, I really got into it when I got iMovie in Junior High or maybe even earlier. My first video was some stuff I filmed at a July 4 parade in a friend’s neighborhood; I cut it to Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen, and it was really magical to discover the power of making a cut as a beat in the song hit. Great editing is still the most important thing to me. Also, a huge inspiration in music video editing is a little movie called Interstella 5555, an anime set to Daft Punk’s album Discovery. It’s unbelievable. Every single movement, flash, cut, blink, etc. syncs with the beats of the album.

What has been your greatest tragedy and triumph in the business thus far?

Hmm, tragedy? I generally avoid tragedy at all cost. I guess as I still feel like I’m starting out, budgets are very low, and there’s no money to rent lighting equipment. This is fine, fortunately cameras these days allow to shoot in very low light while still looking pretty damn great, but it’s definitely a crutch. Directors, including myself, aren’t learning to light their scenes, and I feel that’s really crucial to the next level. So. That’s relative tragedy.

Triumph. I guess being lucky enough to be affiliated with and respected by SMKA. They’ve definitely got a huge movement going on in Atlanta and I wouldn’t be anywhere near it without them. If you’re trying to learn how to come up in the game as an artist, producer, or manager, watch them, they’re smart and tasteful.

I’m also very thankful that Aleon Craft was the first artist I got to work with extensively.  It meant a lot to fall in with someone who was willing to have fun, be weird, and try stuff that most rappers wouldn’t.  Don’t get me wrong, Craft has got swag, but he’s not afraid to let his guard down and be human.  I’m tired of rappers trying to fit into that tired old bling mold.  It’s not about that anymore.

Favorite 5 movies & why?

This is always tough. Excuse most of these answers being based on the visual aspect of movies:

City of God – For all reasons good movies are good. Cinematography is gorgeous, but the kicker is the editing. Just watching the opening scene, from the sharpening of the knife to chasing the chicken in the alley, it’s all perfectly executed.

Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark – Childhood favorite. Like all older Spielberg, the cinematography is epic and unlike most movies today, it’s all real! No shitty green screen and CGI backdrops.

Barton Fink – I’m a Coen Brother fanatic. This is a weirder one, but all the performances are great.

Chicago – What? A musical? Yes, a musical. I love this every time I see it. Great actors, great music, great choreography. I like most anything that feels like a really long music video.

Spirited Away – Hayao Miyazaki is in another world.

Favorite 5 albums/songs & why?

“Babylon” – OutKast – Ultimately my favorite OutKast song. The humming on the beat. Big Boi’s coming-of-age verse. Incredibly relaxing.

Grizzly Bear – Yellow House – A great album to put on and tune out. One summer I listened to this and played Earthbound, my favorite SNES game as a child, a whole lot. Now when I hear it I see little flashes of the 16-bit characters walking about. Maybe that’s bad?

Pixies – Doolittle – Nonstop jams.

The Roots – Phrenology – This was my first Roots album, lots of high school memories attached to it.

The Beatles – Rubber Soul – My childhood jam. I listened to a lot of Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Beatles when I was little thanks to my pops.

Where do you believe your strengths are in this game?

My strengths…I’d say my strengths in terms of video is editing. I can polish a turd pretty well. In terms of “the game”, probably just practicing good business. Communicating well with others.

To up and coming directors what advice can you give them about focus, how to get into the industry, etc?

I’d say practice like hell. I know I keep going back to the editing bit, but it’s so important. Filmmaking is relatively very very cheap these days; you can be a one-man studio. It’s what I do. To be able to edit in Final Cut efficiently, so you can translate what you have in your head to your sequence as easily as possible, is imperative. This will also teach what works in terms of flow and what doesn’t. Find people to make free videos for so you can keep practicing. Setup a website with WordPress or whatever you want that showcases only your content. Be a nice guy, people like nice people. Call people back, respond to emails quickly. Reach out to people you want to work with, more likely than not, they’ll be down for at least a beer.

What are the craziest moments you’ve had on set?

I can’t say there have been really crazy moments on set. Shooting Aleon Craft’s video for “Sunday” was just a crazy two days of driving around in a Bronco. We would find ourselves in someone’s neighborhood, pick them up, drive around for a take or two, then move on. It was a blast. There was a moment when I was like, wait, is this my career I’m carrying out right now?

Where do you see your future leading you?  What is the endgame for Dustin Chambers?

I honestly have no idea. I have a lot of very different things going on. I’ve come to the realization that I’ll eventually have to choose a path and stick with it, but for now I’m just working really hard and having a lot of fun.

You’ve had a diverse clientele (Nat Geo, Adult Swim, @SMKA, etc) what do each of them bring to the table for you which made them appealing and vice versa?

I mean, they’re all really great companies. Most importantly they bring new experience from which I learn a whole lot. I feel like I’m generally winging it and hoping for the best.

You’ve done a lot of work with SMKA, how’d that relationship come together?

I was in high school with all three original member of SMKA(shout out to Paideia), though they were all a couple years older than me, so I never really knew them well. When they dropped SMKA Experiment Vol. 1 during my senior year of college, I was amazed by it. I couldn’t believe I semi-knew the people involved with it. I decided they’d be great to work with once I got out of school, so I shot Mike an email saying that I’d like to do photo or video with them and nearly a year later he called about doing the first Aleon Craft viral, “Strange“. It’s been love ever since.

How would you describe your style?

My video style is colorful and clean I think. A little heavy handed on the editing. They look like they were made on the spot, but are executed well. I’ve found myself using whip cutaways a lot, you can see a lot of them in Kyle Lucas’ Funeral video. Something about handholding the 5D makes it such an easy and effective camera move, especially when you do it at the right time.

What’s the equipment you most cherish?

I gotta say the Canon 5D Mark II. I just wouldn’t be able to make anything without it. No photos, no videos. It’s an expensive little box that my career depends on.

This is another from my time out at @A3C Hip Hop Festival in Atlanta this past October.  I had a great time out there & the organizers (shout out to the big homie Brian Knott, if you meet him you’ll know what I mean) treated us great and provided outstanding access.

For this one I linked up with the outspoken Killer Mike, growing up in Atlanta he was one of the names I always loved. Not saying I’m some street dude, but I appreciate the craft on the mic and he was one of the first out of the A’ doing it and doing it with intelligence and speaking to real issues.

Not seen but sitting across from me was Immortal Technique, dude’s real talk all the time.

A few months ago I was linked up with Kenneth Price via email.  This was particularly the genesis for the upcoming MV Director Series here at Social8gency.  I’d seen that there were a number of videos being produced for 9th Wonder’s IWWMG and it came to me to contact the guys behind the camera.

We decided on a format of interview then a breakdown of a selection of 3 – 4 videos by the directors.  These are the guys saddled with bringing the musical vision or the theme of a track to life.  The first edition of the Social8gency Presents: Behind The Video; we highlight director Kenneth Price.

Was directing always where you felt you wanted to be?

Not necessarily, I can’t point to a particular point growing up where I knew it was what I was going to do my life but I ended up going to film school after nearly failing out of business school and something clicked. I enjoyed everything about the filmmaking process and was instantly fascinated with how everything came together. I’ve been pursuing it constantly for the past ten years or so.

Where are you originally from?

Raleigh, NC

Has your hometown/how you grew up affected your outlook on filmmaking at all?

Raleigh isn’t much of a filmmaking town. However, Wilmington, NC where I got my undergraduate degree is referred to as Hollywood East. Hundreds of films and television shows have been filmed there. So while I was in school I was able to work on indy films as well as big budget projects like Outkast’s Idlewild and Dawson’s Creek.

Who inspired you to get into the field?

Really just people around me who were making films. Hollywood filmmaking always seemed so unattainable it was more friends of mine and people like David Gordon Green who inspired me.

What has been the greatest tragedy and triumph in the business thus far?

That’s really hard to say, it’s always a series of peaks and valleys so I know if something incredible happens something tragic is on its way and vice versa. The greatest triumph is just being able to watch things from years ago and remember the times that went into creating the film.

How’d you link up with 9th Wonder the IWWMG movement?

About 2 years ago a mutual friend of 9th and I got me in touch with him so I could pitch the idea for “The Wonder Year” documentary. Ever since then I’ve kinda become part of that world, it just so happened it somewhat coincided with the creation of IWWMG so I started doing a lot of music video work.

Top 5 movies?

In no particular order… Rushmore, 8 ½, Bottle Rocket, Do the Right Thing, Lost in Translation.

Top 5 albums/songs?

In no particular order… The Beach Boys – “Pet Sounds”, Little Brother “ The Listening” ,  D’Angelo “Voodoo” A Tribe Called Quest – “Midnight Marauders” Steely Dan “Citizen Steely Dan” Boxset…yeah I’m cheating.

Where do you believe your strengths are in this game?

I’m kind of a one-man band, 95% of the time I’m doing everything from treatment to editing. I think its rare in any creative endeavor to have the ability to see something through from beginning to end.

To up and coming directors what advice can you give them about focus, how to get into the industry, etc?

I don’t know anything about how to “get on” or “break into the industry” or any of that, I just wanted to make a film about an artist I was a fan of and everything else kinda fell into place. As dumbed down as it sounds I guess my advice based on the past 2 years is just to never settle for something you don’t love doing. I could have made a whole lot more money working as a bank teller or an insurance salesmen or something over the past few years but you only live once so you might as well do what you love and have faith you’ll have enough money at the end of the month to get by on.

What’s the craziest moments you’ve had on set?

Nothing really crazy, we tend to keep a pretty closed set when we shoot. For pure spectacle, nothing beats the Big Remo “Go Ladies” shoot at Howard Homecoming.

Your style is seemingly rather documentary style, with your camera primarily just capturing the world around you, is that your preferred style or more a matter of what is currently being asked of you?

That’s 100% indicative of my background. I started doing music videos because of wanting to do a documentary and because of the cameras most of us are using these days its easier to capture reality because most people think you are just taking still photographs. No one has ever specifically requested the whole “just shoot this raw, documentary style” I’ve just always felt the most natural doing that. I’ve done some club videos and stuff but it always felt a little more outside of my comfort zone.

Where do you see your future leading you?  What is the endgame for Kenneth Price?

I don’t know, two years ago I never really thought about doing music videos. I’d be surprised if two years from now I’d still be actively doing as many music videos as a I am currently but it’s been a lot of fun. I get my master’s in a month, chances are I’ll end up a film professor in the future.

I spent my formative years in Atlanta, thus Creative Loafing was required reading, f0r those that don’t know, think of it as the Atlanta equivalent to LA Weekly, but better.  So before you made your way down to Little 5, The Tabernacle, or The Underground, you knew what was going down.

Long story short I often hit them and Maurice Garland regularly to stay up on the latest happenings in the city thats got my heart.  Every year they put together an excellent issue dedicated solely to the music emanating from the city.  The latest was no doubt one of the magazine’s strongest.  Atlanta has been bubbling over with new talent recently that are now gaining public awareness and Creative Loafing did a great job of bringing it all together in this year’s edition.

Dropping Links to all the choice content:

The Making of Outkast’s Aquemini

Black Lips’ Jared Swilley with Waka Flocka Flame

Constellations’ Elijah Jones with Dreamer of Hollyweerd

Who’s Got Next from the ATL?

Those Bubbling Out of the ATL Underground

Cody Chestnutt

If you don’t know the young man above then you’ve been deprived of the most refreshing presence in hip hop.  A true torch bearer of the unique Atlanta fusion of hip hop, soul, funk, rock originating from the Atlanta collective known as the Dungeon Family is Bobby Ray a.k.a. B.O.B.  From growing up in Ga., those artists were those that changed hip hop in content and sound, and B.O.B. is another step forward.

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing catching his energetic and live band infused set twice.  Each time relieved by his passion and ability to capture the crowd.  Particularly those that may have only heard a track or two and are at first taken aback by the live instrumentation, and then shortly there after brought in like a baby leaning forward for its nourishment.

Do yourself a favor, when he’s in your town catch his show for your auditory health and cop this collection courtesy of 2DOPEBOYZ.

Bobby Ray, 2DOPEBOYZ, always on point.