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(December 31, 2002 -
January 1, 2003) 2002 YEAR-END REVIEW
As Hype Williams & Paul Hunter slowed down their video work to
focus on other projects this year, Little X got busier and
busier. Directing no less than 20 videos this year, 2002 is the
year that Little X made the big leap to being a household name in the
music video industry. He directed such hits as Hot In Herre
(Nelly), Gimme The Light (Sean Paul), Gangsta Lovin' (Eve & Alicia
Keys), and U Don't Have To Call (Usher). He also co-directed and
edited Boyz II Men's The Color of Love with directors Hype Williams,
Benny Boom, & Chris Robinson (the first time 4 video directors
have collaborated on a music video). My personal favorites this
year are Gimme The Light (Sean Paul), Gotta Get Thru This (Daniel
Bedingfield), & U-Turn (Usher). My least favorite was
Round
Up (Lady May).
(December 21, 2002)
X PREMIERES NEW AALIYAH VIDEO ON MUCHMUSIC |
AALIYAH CD+DVD | THE CLIPSE VIDEO
Little X appeared on MuchMusic's weekend hip-hop video show MuchVibe
this afternoon to premiere a new video for Aaliyah's I Care 4 U.
He explains that the video, which consists entirely of clips from an
old Japanese Anime, is something he edited together with some new
software he recently bought for his computer. X, who had
previously directed Aaliyah & DMX on the Come Back In One Piece
video, mentions that Aaliyah was a huge Japanese Anime fan. The
video for I Care 4 U shows a crowded stadium where a ghostly female
singer floats around the stadium, embracing each audience member,
before floating away. Although the main character bares only a
vague resemblance to Aaliyah, the whole mood and atmosphere that
Little X was trying to convey comes through. Model Prasha (from
Nelly's Hot In Herre & Sean Paul's Gimme The Light videos) also
appeared on the episode of MuchVibe. They were all there to
promote a party which will take place at downtown Toronto nightclub
The Guvernment tomorrow night. Both Little X & Prasha, as
well as male model Will Lemay, are to attend.
(those of you who missed this afternoon's airing of the show can
catch it tonight at 1:30am on MuchMusic)
In related Aaliyah news, her new
album of new & old material, I Care 4 U, was released in
stores 2 weeks ago. Packaged along with the CD is a bonus DVD
which contains 9 music videos as well as a animated promo clip &
behind-the-scenes feature. The Little X-directed video for Come
Back In One Piece is included in the disc. The bonus DVD
is only available with initial shipments of the Aaliyah CD, and is
available all across the U.S. & Canada.
The new video by The Clipse feat.
Faith Evans, Ma I Don't Love Her has premiered this past
week on MTV & BET. The video was shot by Little X in Toronto
in mid-November.
(thanks to Bryan S. for the info)
(December 12, 2002)
PT CRUISER & REEBOK VIDEO CLIPS POSTED ON HSI WEBSITE
New Little X video clips have recently been posted on the
official HSI
Productions website. Full clips of the Little X-directed
commercials for PT Cruiser Turbo ("Where I'm
Going"; a group of friends drive to a picnic in the park;
features Canadian R&B singer Melanie Durrant) and Reebok/Footlocker
("Walk In His Shoes"; a teen puts on the new Reebok
Iverson shoes and starts living the lifestyle of the NBA player...
until he takes it off).
Here's another article about the recent
murder during the Sean Paul video shoot in Toronto:
"Sean Paul Speaks Out Against Gun Violence After Death Near Video Set"
(Launch.com; December 11, 2002)
(December 11, 2002)
SHOOTING AT SEAN PAUL VIDEO SHOOT IN TORONTO |
CORBIS IMAGES
A man was shot and killed during an apparent drive-by
shooting during a Sean Paul video shoot in the north part of Toronto
Monday night. Sean Paul was in town Sunday & Monday,
shooting a video with director Little X for his next singles Get
Busy/Like Glue in the residential area of Kipling Ave. &
Langstaff Rd. in Vaughn (in the north part of Toronto). The
premise of the video was a house-party (proabably similar to X's video
for Nelly E.I.), so the video was shot on-location in an actual
house on a residential street (for both interior & exterior
shots). Around 8:30pm on Monday night, two gunmen pulled up to
the victim's car while he was parked on the side of the street.
The gunmen shot the victim and drove off in a black SUV-type
vehicle. About 75 crew members and an estimated 200-300 extras
and on-lookers were in the area at the time of the shooting.
Police have stated that they believe the people involved in the
shooting had no connections with the video-shoot itself. Both
MuchMusic & MTV Canada were on set shooting behind-the-scenes
footage that is scheduled to air in the next few weeks.
click on the following links to read more about this incident:
article
at Canoe.ca | article
at Pulse24.com (with statements from Little X & Sean Paul on the
incident)
(thanks to Matt from Ottawa; Lori W; rtv for the info)
Several people have e-mailed me in the
past few weeks about images of Little X on the Corbis.com
website. Corbis runs an image licensing service that licenses
images from events around the world to media & publications.
The images on the site are samples of the images contained in their
vast database (with the company name watermarked over the centre of
the image). The images of Little X on the site were
behind-the-scenes shots taken at Toronto video-shoots for Tweet's Smoking
Cigarettes & The Clipse's Ma I Don't Love Her, as well
as on location of Wyclef's Pussycat video and a few studio-type
shots of Little X. At the risk of breaking any copyright laws, I
won't post any of the images on my site. However, I will provide
the link to their site for all you (female) fans who have bombarded me
with e-mails in the past few years requesting more pictures of X.
------> Corbis.com
(search under the "For Professional Use" section)
(thanks to jrcrave, Gladys V., elham for the info!)
(November 18, 2002)
CLIPSE VIDEO BEHIND-THE-SCENES
| BLACK MEN MAGAZINE
| WYCLEF VIDEO
As mentioned before, Little X was in Toronto last weekend to shoot
a new video for The Clipse. On this past Wednesday's
episode of MuchMusic's
The DownLo, VJ Namugenyi was on set for a behind-the-scenes look
at the video, which is for the track Ma, I Don't Love Her.
The video was shot in and around the Danforth area in downtown
Toronto, including a scene by the large angel grafitti mural seen at
the end of the Little X-directed video Gotta Get Thru This (by
Daniel Bedingfield). The video also features an appearance by
mega-producer Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes.
(thanks to BD, Elham, & rtv for the info)
I finally picked up a copy of the Black
Men magazine in which Little X is interviewed. This issue, Black
Men's Swimsuit Extra (Holiday 2002) showcases the "leading
ladies of music videos" with a several shots of each model and a
short blurb about each. The cover features three models who are
regularly featured in hip-hop videos: Tasha Elie (seen in 112's Peaches
& Cream); Nicole Ricca (seen in LL Cool J's Fatty Girl);
and Pasha (seen in Sean Paul's Gimme The Light). Page 8
also features the two-page interview with director Little X. The
magazine should be out on newsstands all across North America right
now.
The Little X-shot video for Wyclef's
Pussycat (remix) featuring Loon & Busta Rhymes has
begun airing on MTV Europe. As mentioned before, the video was
shot using a handheld digital camera, which gives it sort of a
"home video" look. The video also features members of
City High.
(thanks to Onkar for the info)
(November 11, 2002)
X SHOOTS CLIPSE VIDEO IN TORONTO
Little X was in Toronto yesterday and today (Sunday & Monday)
shooting a new video for The Clipse.
(thanks to B & rtv for the info)
(October 22, 2002)
LITTLE X & MODELS FEATURED IN BLACK MEN'S SWIMSUIT ISSUE
Little X and several models from his videos are featured in the
latest issue of Black Men magazine (the Swimsuit Issue).
The cover features 3 models from his videos; and the inside features a
2-page interview with the director.
(thanks to JB & Sexxiecookie for the info)
(October 8, 2002)
CRAIG DAVID VIDEO PREMIERES TODAY ON MTV
| VIDEO DOWNLOADS AT HSI WEBSITE
Craig David
will appear on MTV's
Total Request Live this afternoon (October 8) to premiere his new
Little X-directed video What's Your Flava.
The official HSI Productions
website (hsiproductions.com)
has posted new video clips under its Little X section (HSI reps Little
X as well as Paul Hunter). Among the FULL VIDEOS available on
the site (in downloadable Quicktime or streaming Windows Media
formats) are:
-PT Cruiser & Stomp (commercials;
but there is an error with the links)
-Gimme The Light - Sean Paul
-How Come You Don't Call Me - Alicia Keys
-Gangsta Lovin' - Eve feat. Alicia Keys
-The Colors of Love - Boyz II Men
-Hot In Herre - Nelly
-U Got It Bad & U Don't Have To Call - Usher
(October 7, 2002)
CRAIG DAVID VIDEO PREMIERES
Craig David's What's Your Flava
(shot by Little X in mid-September in Prague, Czech Republic)
premiered last Friday on MTV Europe's weekly video show The
Fridge. As mentioned before, the video is a modern take of Willy
Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, with Craig David in the role of
Willy Wonka.
(thanks to Cihan for the info)
(October 3, 2002)
CRAIG DAVID VIDEO
MTV.com posted
info earlier this week on the Little X-directed Craig David
video, What's Your Flava? As I mentioned here
earlier, the video was shot mid-September in Prague, Czech
Republic. The video is based on the story Willy Wonka &
The Chocolate Factory, with Craig David in the role of Willy Wonka.
The video follows four contest winners into a magical factory, but
instead of a candy factory, the contest winners enter a magical music
factory.
click
here to read article at mtv.com
(thanks to Kevin L. for the info)
(October 1, 2002)
TWEET VIDEO
The Tweet video that Little X shot over the weekend
in Toronto was for Smoking Cigarettes/Boogie 2nite.
(thanks to B. & Kevin L. for the info)
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