Keeping up with Omar Jones: The genius directing powerful music videos
Omar Jones has the potential to be one of the biggest music video directors in the rap game and his recent work with Isaiah Rashad’s latest album, The House is Burning proves it.
Have you ever watched a new music video from your favorite artist and been underwhelmed? Did it leave you inexplicably disappointed? Could you not quite put your finger on why you didn’t like it? Well, you are certainly not alone.
Music videos have the power to stand with their songs as iconic and memorable and serve as the ultimate power-up to accompany and musical artistry a rapper wants to visualize.
Take for example The Weeknd’s exploding car video for “The Hills“, or the timeless Michael Jackson “Thriller” video.
They can also be weird, pointless, or simply not fit with the theme and vibe of the song. Getting a music video right is no simple task, there is a ton of room for error. In recent years, the rap genre has been at the forefront of uninteresting, uninspired music videos.
Rappers who are in their box do nothing but aggressively lip-sync, flaunt money in their hand, drive cars in the background. It’s boring. At the same time, I get it.
If you don’t have the resources to make a great video and that kind of video is the only thing you can make, do it for exposure. It just adds very little to the song.
Omar Jones is racking up millions of views
However, there are many videographers, in the hip-hop community, that have come out with unique, memorable videos to match the songs that the videos are paired with.
One of these videographers is Omar Jones, who is currently the mastermind behind two of the videos for the new Isaiah Rashad album “The House Is Burning”.
Jones directed the brilliant video for the song “Lay Wit Ya” back in May when Rashad released the song as a teaser for his album The House is Bruning. Then their video for the banger “From The Garden” was released right after to an overwhelmingly positive fan reception.
Jones’ work is so remarkable because of his ability to match the vibe, and pace of the song. Take for example the “From The Garden” music video. The video starts black and white with a slow pace focusing on Rashad, but the pace gradually speeds up as the song intensifies.
The camera drifts into an overhead view showcasing various street activities. As this is happening color drifts into the frame. Then, when Lil Uzi begins his feature, the video transforms into a trippy black and white scape.
The scape features a constant, well-paced zoom into evolving shapes that have Uzi, Rashad, and differing scenes inside of them. The remainder of the song alternates once more between these two styles and remains interesting, well-paced, and hypnotic throughout.
Omar also directed the video for Young Thug and Gunna’s smash hit “Ski” back in April. The video was also true to the theme of the song, which is more of a braggadocious, melodic, colorful track.
The video features more typical rap video aspects like lavish mansions, expensive cars, beautiful women, and a whole lot of drip. But in many ways, it is differentiated from typical videos.
The muted blue tints and heat signatures, as well as the snowy background, keep true to the song’s title “Ski”, while also creating a memorable aesthetic.
The moving blank white slate featuring Gunna and Young Thug rapping is also an interesting, well-executed change of scenery that breaks up potential monotony. Overall, it is a unique, well-balanced video for a song whose potential for a forgettable video was relatively high.
Keep up with the Jones
Omar Jones has the potential to be one of the biggest video directors in the rap game.
He has shown proficiency in creating different ideas that match different kinds of hip hop, which is not something that can be said for every director.
If you like these videos and are interested in Omar Jones and his director work, we got you. Follow him on Instagram, and Twitter, and check out his website to keep up to date with his projects.
Make sure you catch whatever he puts out next. We promise you won’t regret it.