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(December 31, 2005 - January 11, 2006) 2005 YEAR-END REVIEW
2005 was another good year for Little X, as he continued to be one of
the most sought after and prolific hiphop video directors out there.
He directed no less than 13 videos last year, including such
highly-rotated clips for Rihanna (Pon De Replay),
Ludacris (Pimpin' All Over The World), and Usher (Caught
Up). The year started off with the premiere and release
of the Usher mini-movie Rhythm City: Volume One, which
spawned the music video for Caught Up. He also
directed a bunch of commercials for companies such as Burger King,
Miller Beer & Nintendo. My favorites this year
include his videos Pimpin' All Over The World (Ludacris)
and Temperature (Sean Paul). My least favorite was
One Wish (Ray J). I haven't heard what X has in
store for 2006, but it's safe to say that he'll continue doing what he
does best: videos; and possibly directing his first feature film?
(December 17, 2005) LITTLE X HOSTS CHARITY EVENT IN TORONTO
(TONIGHT)
Sorry, this is a bit last minute. Little X is hosting the 4th
Annual X-Mas Party For Children With Sickle Cell Anemia tonight
(December 17) at the Westin Harbour Castle's "The Harbour Ballroom" in
downtown Toronto. He'll be hosting with Michael Budman, with
music provided by DJ Starting From Scratch and DJ Wikked. Click
on the flyer for official e-vite:
(December 9, 2005) SEAN PAUL VIDEO PREMIERES
The Little X-shot video for Sean Paul's
new single, Temperature, premiered on BET 106 & Park
this past Tuesday night (December 7). As previously mentioned,
the clip was shot on a soundstage in Toronto back in late-October.
The clip is brightly colored, and features Sean Paul with several
girls as the seasons change from fall, to winter, to spring, to
summer; the seasons are reflected on the (indoor) set, and in what the
girls are wearing ;o). Definitely one of my personal favorite
Little X videos of 2005.
click here to view the video in streaming format at MTV2.com
(November 29, 2005) RICO LOVE VIDEO PREMIERES
The Little X-shot video for rapper Rico
Love, for his single Settle Down (from the
soundtrack to the Usher movie In The Mix) has premiered on
BET.
(November 10, 2005)
LITTLE X SHOOTS VIDEO FOR RICO LOVE
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MORE INFO ON SEAN PAUL VIDEO
As reported earlier, Hype Williams was to
have directed videos for two upcoming artists off Usher's new
record label US Records. Usher was on MTV Total Request Live
this past Monday to preview the two videos. Apparently Little X
ended up shooting one of the videos, for the track Settle Down
by rapper Rico Love.
(thanks to Ugi U for the info)
The video that X shot for Sean Paul
last month in Toronto was for his upcoming single Temperature.
(October 18, 2005)
***SEAN PAUL VIDEO - EXTRAS
NEEDED - TORONTO***
Little X is shooting an upcoming Sean
Paul video this weekend in Toronto, and is looking for background
extras:
SATURDAY OCTOBER 22, 2005
DIRECTED BY X
WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR FREE BACKGROUND EXTRAS!!
MALE/FEMALE
AGES 18-21
AFRICAN AMERICAN/CANADIAN
FUN AND OUTGOING
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT:
PLAYGROUND CASTING
416.260.1345
(October 14, 2005)
***DIRECTORS LABEL DVD -
LITTLE X (?)***
In an article on
MTV.com,
Directors Label DVD producer Richard Brown mentioned that he plans
on doing an offshoot series of directors DVD's focusing on hiphop &
R&B music video directors, and singled out Little X, Paul
Hunter, and Chris Robinson as the first three directors in that
series. The Directors Label DVD's currently include 7 DVD's
showcasing the work of groundbreaking directors in the music video
genre. The first three volumes (released in 2003) feature Michel
Gondry, Spike Jonze, and Chris Cunningham. Volumes 4-7 were
released this past September and feature Mark Romanek, Jonathan
Glazer, Anton Corbijn, and Stephane Sednaoui. The DVD's include
a selection of the directors' best video work, along with short films,
commercials, and some behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, and
commentary. The company that releases the DVD's, Palm Pictures,
also released the Hype Williams video compilation (Hype Williams -
The Videos, Vol. 1) back in 2002.
click here to read Directors Label v.4-7 feature article at MTV.com
click here to
find out more about the Directors Label DVD's or
Palm Pictures
(thanks to Kevin H. for the info > visit his
Gondry
site here)
(October 14, 2005)
LITTLE X ARTICLES IN VIBE & XXL MAGAZINES
Little X has been featured in issues of Vibe and XXL magazines in the
past few months. He was featured in a one-page article in
Vibe (September 2005 p.98; 12th anniversary 'Juice' issue, with
Jamie Foxx on the cover) on a story/interview about how he got started
in music videos, what kind of responsibilities he has as a video
director, and offers advice to up & coming directors getting into the
game. X is also featured in the October 2005 issue of
XXL.
(September 29, 2005) VIDEOS FOR LYFE FEAT. FANTASIA; R. KELLY;
PREMIERE
Little X's two new videos for Lyfe
feat. Fantasia (for the track Hypothetically) and
the new R. Kelly video Slow Wind both premiered
this past month.
(September 8, 2005) NEW UPCOMING VIDEOS FOR LYFE FEAT. FANTASIA;
R. KELLY
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NEW RAY J VIDEO LITTLEXONLINE.COM VIDEO CLIP UPDATES
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SHAGGY VIDEO
Little X has recently shot two new videos. One is for Lyfe
feat. Fantasia for the track Hypothetically, and the
second is for a new R. Kelly video Slow Wind.
The Lyfe feat. Fantasia video was shot in mid-August and the R. Kelly
video was shot in Miami in late-August, when he was in town for the
MTV VMA's.
(thanks to Elttil for the info)
X directed a new Ray J video for
the track One Wish, which premiered on
BET in mid-August.
(thanks to jblaze and Cihan for the info)
The official
LittleXonline.com website
has been updated with new video clips for the new "BK Chicken Fries Go
Force" commercial for Burger King as well as the new
R. Kelly video Playas Only, and Shaggy feat.
Olivia video Wild 2Night. The Shaggy video actually premiered
back in July but I didn't mention it here. The video features a
cameo by director Little X near the end of the video (he's the one
'flirting' with Olivia, leaning against the hood of the car).
(July 31, 2005) 2005 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS NOMINATIONS
ANNOUNCED
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DAVID BANNER VIDEO
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ARTICLE ON MILLER BEER COMMERCIAL
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LITTLEXONLINE.COM RELAUNCH PARTY PICS
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P. DIDDY PARTY PICS
Nomintations for the 22nd MTV Video Music Awards were announced
this past Monday, and Little X videos came away with two nominations:
Best Male Video for Usher's Caught Up, and
Best Rap Video for Ying Yang Twins' Wait (The Whisper Song).
The awards will take place on August 28 in Miami, with P. Diddy
hosting.
click
here to link MTV.com for a full list of nominations
Little X shot a new video for rapper David Banner's new single Play,
which premiered in mid-July on MTV.
(thanks to jrcrave and Anthony E. for the info)
Pics from the official
littlexonline.com website relaunch party (held in mid-July) can be
found at
AllHipHop.com. Note that the site makes an error in listing
the event as X's birthday party.
click here to view the photos
(thanks to jrcrave for the info)
Soundwave.com
has posted an article about the Little X-directed 30-second commercial
spot for Miller Brewing Company's "Sweat The Technique".
The article describes the special effects used in making the clip, and
includes the clip in Quicktime format.
click here to read article
(thanks to jrcrave for the info)
Here's an
online album with photos from the Little X & Puff Daddy-hosted
Sean Jean party March 29 at Metro nighclub in Toronto.
(thanks to jrcrave for the info)
(July 6, 2005) NEW RIHANNA VIDEO
Little X has shot a new video for dancehall artist Rihanna for
her first single Pon De Replay. The video, which
takes place in a club, was added to
BET and
MuchMusic
(high rotation) late last week.
click here to view clip of the video at MuchMusic.com
(thanks to Julian R., jrcrave, Anthony E. for the info)
(June 18, 2005) LITTLEXONLINE.COM RELAUNCHES
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X SHOOTS VIDEO FOR SHAGGY
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DOSE
Little X's official website
littlexonline.com relaunched this past Wednesday. The Flash
site features a slideshow with large screen shots from his
videos, a fully interactive menu interface, and an abundance of info
and video clips. Here is a brief breakdown of the sections and
some rarities found on the site:
LITTLEXONLINE.COM
VIDEOS: good quality,
streaming full video clips of a selection of 27 Little X-directed
music videos, including his recent videos for Ludacris & Ying Yang
Twins; rare videos for Cop That Disc (Timbaland), Where
I'm Going (Melanie Durrant), Trick Me (Kelis); and old
classics like I'll Be Dat (Redman), Shake That Ass (Mystikal)
COMMERCIALS: good quality,
streaming video clips of a selection of 12 Little X-directed
commercials, including recent ones for MDG beer, Nintendo and Burger
King; and older must-see clips fro JC Penney (Back To School), and a
hilarious commercial for IKEA (which features 80's rocker Billy
Idol)
EXTRAS: perhaps the most
exciting part of the site; this section includes some promo spots
featuring clips from X's videos (2000 & 2001 year-end compilation
ones), extended scenes from his videos, unreleased shorts and video
clips, and the rare clip for Aaliyah's I Care For You in
which Little X edited together clips from a Japanese anime, in
tribute to Aaliyah.
GALLERY: video stills gallery
(featuring stills from 36 of X's videos); marketing & promotions
gallery (featuring flyers and hand-outs promoting several events
that Little X had hosted in and around Toronto); and a gallery of
sketches (featuring several of Little X's hand-sketches)
PRESS: a selection of
full-text articles in which X has been interviewed or profiled in
ACCOLADES: full listing of X's
music videos (arranged chronologically by year), commercials, award
nominations & wins
ABOUT: bio of director Little
X
LINKS: links to artist sites,
music video sites, urban magazines, and even a link to this site!
Word has it that Little X shot a new
video for Shaggy sometime last week...
Little X was featured yesterday's
edition of DOSE, a free daily urban newspaper here in Toronto.
The newspaper featured short interviews & profiles of the 8 music
video directors being nominated for their work at this weekend's
MuchMusic
Video Awards.
click here to
read online version of the story at Dose.ca
(June 10, 2005) NEW JDIGGZ VIDEO
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R. KELLY VIDEO TO PREMIERE NEXT WEEK
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LITTLEXONLINE.COM RELAUNCH
According to the online playlist of new video adds on
MuchMusic.com,
Little X shot the new JDiggz video Puush It Up,
which premiered this week on the Canadian music channel. JDiggz
is a Toronto-area rapper best known for his role as Keshia Chante's
love interest in her 2 hit videos Bad Boy and Does He Love
Me (both also directed by Little X).
click to view the video in streaming format at MuchMusic.com
According to a press-release from Jive
Records, the Little X directed video for Playa's Only by
R. Kelly feat. The Game will premiere on June 12 on
MTV2 Makes The
Video.
click here to read press release at Yahoo News
Some great news! Little X's official
site,
littlexonline.com, is relaunching on June 15 (next Wednesday).
I've seen the site, and its AMAZING. Fully interactive Flash
site with an abundance of info and content: video & commercial clips,
full official listing of video & commercial work, articles, and even
some 'extra' rare clips of unreleased projects, not found anywhere
else.
(June 2, 2005) LUDACRIS VIDEO PREMIERES
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X SHOOTS R. KELLY VIDEO
The Little X-shot video for Ludacris's Pimpin' All Over The
World premiered in mid-May on
MTV's Making The
Video. As previously mentioned, the video was shot on
location in South Africa. The video directly correlates to
lyrics from the song, and shows Ludacris with girls from different
parts of the world as he names off each location. The segments
filmed in South Africa show statuesque African models standing around,
almost like animals, against the African landscape.
(thanks to Anthony E. & gv for the info)
Word has it that X was in Miami in
mid-May, shooting a new video for R. Kelly feat. The Game, for
the track Playa's Only.
click here to read article at MTV.com
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