Behind the Scenes of Shane Eli’s “Grey Area” Video (Exclusive)

Note from Nathan: As he prepares for the 2011 of his new album (more to come....), L.A. based rapper/singer/producer/international man of luxury Shane Eli is still, fittingly, pushing out new material from his last album, "The Push". When I first saw the visuals for Eli's single "Grey Area" I was impressed, and knew there had to be more to the story, so I invited the man himself, along with director David Wong, to drop a little "Video Breakdown".


Download "Grey Area Directly

:01 Apologies, we couldn't afford autotune. Indie Budget.
:16 I Don't actually own an mpc. I make all my beats in Reason. But this felt like the right move...
:31 Damn right I make my own beats though.
:44 The difference between me and the dude playing young Shane is that from Junior High to 10th grade I was chubby bastard. Trust.
:57 This was shot at George Washington HS in Los Angeles. Didn't go there, but thank god they let us shoot on the cheap. We only had two hours to do everything we had to do, so it was very hectic.
1:05 Though not entirely self-evident, the idea of the video is to show everybody the song from inception to completion. Starting with me in the crib making the beat and coming up with it, to reliving the emotions that brought the song out.
1:27 #ohyoutrynnabeanactorhuh?
1:35 For the record, I was better at checkers.
2:19 ...and she did a good job. I used to ball out...for a chubby kid.
2:28 Let's be fathers to our kids.
2:42: One of my good homies, who actually looks a bit like pops.
2:57 Notice ill Bruce Lee sketch behind me. Not mine, but I want it.
3:16 Kanye is probably one of my biggest inspirations as far as artists go. Despite the ego shit, he's one of the only people out there to tell it like he feels it.
3:30 I was fresh in my Kindergarten class.
3:45 Yeah, I know, you've seen "To Be Continued" about 3,000 times in rap videos and it never gets continued...if all goes well, we're gonna be shooting the follow up this weekend!

In all seriousness, the idea for the song was born out my frustration with my pops having abandoned me and my mom. In addition it was tough feeling like a bit of an outsider growing up being mixed. It's funny because I still hear similar sentiments echoed today. It amazed me that people criticize Obama for either being "Too Black" or "Not Black Enough" and my goal with this song is to say to everyone, who gives a shit, we play no part in how we were born, we only play a part in who we become.

Keep PUSHing,
Shane

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"Grey Area" took about a month to develop. Shane and I traded ideas on color schemes, narrative direction and locations almost a week before the shoot. Shane, like most new artists takes his music seriously. In between takes he worked on new beats while the crew changed lighting set ups. Mark Austin, the cinematographer is widely responsible for the look of the school and the apartment. The three of us together knew we were making a quality piece (we wouldn't settle for less). Within this video, it was important for us to make sure we didn't dwell on one aspect more than the other. We wanted to create a balance between the statements in the song. In summation, we're proud of this joint. Its from the heart and personal. People will be able to take away something from this video.

Throughout the shoot, the crew hummed along to the song and began to internalize the lyrics. I think the same will happen with the audience who views it.

- David Wong