Chris Robinson: It's A Wrap

Videos have been condemned by many as being the demise of Hip Hop. Channels like BET and MTV ridiculed for the visuals they support and air. Is how children live their lives the fault of what they see on television and in Hip Hop videos?

Chris Robinson is in an extraordinary league of gentlemen who come from the big budget video school. He has worked with the best of the best and has created videos that will be forever imprinted in our heads and not because of scantily clad females and money throwing rappers.

A firm favorite of Alicia Keys, Nas and Sean "Diddy" Combs, Mr. Robinsons talents are admired and respected by all and sundry. Making a move to the silver screen last year with his directorial movie debut ATL, Chris Robinson hit the nail right on the head once again.

Talking to HipHopDX, the man who has pushed a myriad of visual thoughts upon us, talks about how he was reluctant to have a rapper in his movie debut, how persistence pays off and just how his studying has aided his videos conceptually.

HipHopDX.com: How did you get into making videos?
Chris Robinson: It just came from the culture, being a kid and loving Hip Hop. I am from Baltimore and I would get on the train and go to New York every weekend because I loved Hip Hop so much I just wanted to be in it. Because you kind of grow into it, I always had a love for the music and the way that I expressed that was when I started to take out a video camera and start to shoot things. Slowly, that became me saying, I really love this, and getting more into film and more into that aspect of the art form. I think I came along at the right time, you know when Hip Hop became a real business and there was a need for music videos. There were a lot of guys out there, filmmakers, who were doing stuff for TV that really didnt understand Hip Hop and I think that was what opened doors for me. To come in and be able to identify with the artist and do something that I love.

DX: What was the first video you made with a budget?
CR: The first one that I am known for was The Beatnuts Off the Books.

DX: When you look back at it now, being that there have been so many changes, what do you think about it?
CR: It is still one of my favorite videos.

DX: Is that because it was one of the first ones you did?
CR: Well for me it is because the video interprets the song so well. Even though it was years back before a lot of things that are going on right now, it was just representing The Beatnuts. It was Big Puns first time at being on video and it was a moment in history. The fact that we put that together and it wasnt about the budget, it wasnt about anything; you just had to look at that video and see love.

DX: How did you get your big break?
CR: For me it was probably Fred Salmon, a guy who worked at Profile Records back in the day and the label was going through new ownership and everyone in the office was laid off apart from this guy. So every day I would call him, he would be sat in the office by himself and I am this crazy kid calling from Baltimore trying to get some work. He was like, Look, the record label is shut down, there is no work, but I called him anyway. Then when Profile got back up on its feet, he had this artist called Smooth the Hustler. He hit me up and told me, There was a video but there wasnt much money, did I want to do it? and I was in heaven.

DX: How old were you then?
CR: Oh man I was mad young, maybe 20 and mad hyped just to be asked to do anything. Those days are very blurry.

DX: Do you think that persistence still pays off for kids trying to get a break nowadays?
CR: It is the only thing. It is like you can have as much talent in the world, or have a great idea, but only persistence makes it work. I always give a lot of credit to people who came up through the ranks the hard way. Those who didnt have it handed to them as it is discouraging. A lot of people see me as a product of that to do that, but it is just as much about perseverance as it is the art. As for every one of those guys you see make it, there is a bunch of boys being left at home on the block because they couldnt continue to see the vision or they were discouraged.

DX: Do you ever struggle with concepts?
CR: All the time. Being a director you are a writer, an actor, you are everything. We get writers block all the time because at the end of the day you have to be inspired.

DX: So with you where does your inspiration generally come from?
CR: It is all different but for me the moment, the actual song has to inspire some kind of idea; it can be a simple idea. You know visually I want to see the guy perform the song. When I heard Nas One Mic, I just happened to be studying all about the uprising and I was in that head space for about six months and I wanted to tell the story and then when I heard his record, everything he was talking about happening in Queens, Brooklyn or Los Angeles, it happens all over the world. It happens in Paris, in London, in Africa and I wanted to examine what that is. So taking that idea to Nas when at the time everything was about get money, he was open to the idea. He wanted to take a chance and because at the end of the day, for us, we are always creating art, the record company who hires you is trying to sell a record and this is probably the biggest piece of their marketing tool. Not everyone is going to buy that Nas album is going to see him in concert and be able to shake his hand and get his autograph, with this he was going to be in their living room and their home and he is going to be able to identify with them.

DX: Will you continue to work on music videos as you broaden your horizons as a producer/director?
CR: That was what I loved about it and being selfish in that way and even as I move onto film and television and commercials I will always do music videos. That is because it is the most creative genres and one of the most important ways to tell a story. A lot of times people look at these music videos as disposable and they last for the six or eight weeks the single is out; but for me and I think I speak for a lot of people that are about the culture. I think a lot of these four-minute stories mark time in peoples lives. They mark time for the youth or the culture or even what this artist represented in that city. I am actually trying to do something with the videos, including my colleagues that will be the next evolution. So we are working on something that will further the music legacy you could say.

DX: Can you let us in on what that project is?
CR: It is called Fresh Network. I remember when I would run home in sixth seventh grade and there was this crazy thing called MTV. You didnt know what it was, but it was playing all the music I heard on the radio, Peter Gabriel, Howard Jones, because when MTV started there wasnt that much Hip Hop on it in the beginning. It amazed me but I knew it like belonged to me. So all those things after twenty years, have changed more and become real networks with different kinds of content and basically Fresh is that over again but for the future which is the cell phone. Our idea is that creating music videos for ten years and in my case 15 years and still being relatively young we said, Well, we are old enough to know better and young enough to care. [Laughs] So we want to create these videos and this programming that you cant really get anywhere except at Fresh and also they will be directed towards an audience that loves music, that really loves music and in a really passionate way.

DX: Talking about labels, has the lack of budgets being allocated for videos had an effect on your business in anyway?
CR: The budgets have been cut in half compared to what we are used to, but I have some new directors at my production company which is called Robot, and I have same directors that we have signed, they are a collective called CinChrome. They did the Lupe Fiasco video and they just did Swizz Beatz Money in the Bank, and they have done something with Talib Kweli. They are doing a lot of work. The difference is that they are new and they dont remember, you know they didnt have those big budgets. The work they do, they do it in the parameters that they understand. These guys are young like 21 and 22 and they inspire me. You know it sucks when you want to do something big and iconic and you want to shoot it like a feature film; there is a certain amount of money you want to make this happen, to shoot on 35 to cast it and to go on location. That takes a certain amount of money to do things the right way. But the issue with anything, from video, to TV or film is the art versus the commerce. But because they are in the game and it is new; they are riding with what it is and loving every minute of it and for me that is an even bigger inspiration. Because at the end of the day, the truth is, it is not about the money, it is about the idea. And if you have a great idea you can execute that idea in a lot of different ways.

DX: Was it an easy transition going from music videos to working on ATL?
CR: The difference is that making a music video is probably the best film job in the world. You get creative freedom, you get the job and it is on TV in about three weeks. So you get instant gratification, you get your check quick, you get to go and hang out with some of your favorite artists and especially if you love music, which is I think a prerequisite for anyone in the game. The difference with a movie is, you dedicate to years of your life and it is a marathon. The collaborative process is just that; there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen, there is a lot of money being spent and then there are a lot of people who have an opinion that you have to consider and talk through. Definitely a learning experience, one that I wouldnt change for the world as I love it; letting me know again that this is what I am meant to do; be a film maker.

DX: ATL was your movie debut right?
CR: Yes it sure was.

DX: Had you been just a regular dude going to watch ATL at the movies would you have been impressed?
CR: Thats a hard question, because I am really to close to it. All I will say is that as the director, I did see what I should have done. But the audience doesnt know that. I was happy that the audience came out, that they liked it, that they represented. The movie did well at the box office and on DVD, and every day I am in the streets, someone comes up to me and mentions something about the movie. When you can touch people it makes a difference.

DX: What are the future plans for movies?
CR: The way that it works, and the way that I am learning, is that you have to have five or six things going on at the same time. I am writing something, I am having something written which are my ideas. I am working with another director on a kind of [1970s acclaimed director] Robert Altman kind of thing where there are seven stories. Then there are tow studio films that I am up for and I am working through. So there are about five things going at the same time and they all kind of mature when it is their time. You know when the momentum is right, when the stars align. I was offered a whole lot of things after the success of ATL, Come do this comedy, come do this movie, but my thing is, the biggest lesson I learned is life is short. To dedicate your life and with your family, you know going on location and putting all that into two years, you had better love what you are doing. Not just like it kinda or doing it for the money; you have got to do it because you love it and even then it is one of the hardest things to keep someones attention for two hours and make a good film. But at least the odds are stacked in your favor.