Every artist desires to build a name and establish their brand in the music industry. It’s considered the first step to becoming a successful artist. It is, however, not an easy task to achieve as the industry is highly competitive and constantly evolving.
Director Ali, a top music video director and brand manager, is among the few individuals breaking their way into the industry. He is the official music video director for B Young, the rapper. He has also worked with numerous artists, including Billy Billions.
He ventured into the industry in 2011 and had a decent run as an artist. However, personal reasons compelled him to drop his career as an artist and focus on other things. At the same time, B Young, the British-Turkish rapper who is his younger brother was just starting to build his music catalog. He offered to help and before he knew it, the collaboration had turned into a management deal. They built on the partnership, growing it into creatively directing the whole movement. B Young was in charge of the audio and Ali took care of everything on the visual side of things.
2017-2018 was their breakthrough period as that was when they blew up and got a lot of recognition. Since then, Ali has worked with bigger production teams and record labels which elevated his understanding of how everything worked. He kept on learning and building his toolbox, allowing him to produce, shoot and direct his videos.
Ali turned to music video directing through managing artists. He felt like the other directors were not branding his artists the right way. To him, there was the need to understand the brand and character of the artists when a music video is produced. He viewed it as a crucial step in representing the artists correctly. He always saw the world visually and had a passion for visual representation and branding. So, it was easier for him to pick up a camera and go after what he was passionate about.
Though he operates as a one-man show, his quality of work is exceptional. Convenience is the key secret to his work and that is why he uses any camera or gear that makes his work easier. He admits to having tried most cameras, from the REDs to DSLRs. However, he loves the Ronin-S as his choice and is currently shooting with the Sony a7S III. Ali is comfortable with Premiere Pro for editing and feels that it is the convenient software for him. He believes that these are only tools that allow you to bring your ideas to life. He thinks all tools can work but what matters the most is the idea and your imagination.
He is particular about the type of artists he works with as he likes to be involved with their music careers. Burna Boy, Wiz Kid, and Drake are among the artists he would like to work with in the future. He is also looking forward to collaborating with other music video directors such as Meji Alabi, KLVDR, and Director X.
The music video scene is thriving and the future is certainly looking bright. He considers the accessibility to equipment along with convenience and quality to be the prime requirement to let their ideas flow.