Video Breakdown: J. Cole’‘s “Who Dat”

I’m sure you’ve heard the recent comparisons being made between the two up and coming rappers of their generation, Drake and J. Cole. Much has been said about the dichotomy between the two rappers and the comparisons of them to Jay-Z and Nas. Ironically they are more like suburban mixed/race versions of Jay-Z and Nas, but that’s probably more representative of the current state of hip-hop and pop culture anyways. This week we take a look at the video for "Who Dat", the first single from North Carolina by way of Germany’s J. Cole.



Helmed by directing duo BBGun, the video for "Who Dat" is a breath of fresh air that appropriate fits with J. Cole’s musical M.O. as well. Shot in one continuous take clocking in at a little under 4 minutes, it goes for (and succeeds at it) an epic feeling that augments the song’s driving beat and grandiose horn arrangement with complementary visuals. Cole walks through train tracks and junkyard wreckage as he encounters a marching band, explosions and a group of his disciples/followers.

Not bad for a one take video or for a couple guys that met on craigslist . Linking up for a music documentary on the hip-hop scene, the duo of Max Bohichick and Alex Bergman met Kid Cudi making the film and were subsequently asked by the rapper to direct one of his videos. They’ve since took the music video game by storm with their inventive style and signature touch.

While the narrative does not have much sense to it (maybe I’m missing something) what the video achieves its goal of creating an epic video for an epic song, that visually reminds us of such famous continuous shots as the opening scenes of film "Touch of Evil" or the "Player" (two films I highly recommend). To top it off, they actually used real fire, a rarity these days. Make sure you check out some of the other work from BBGun and J. Cole respectively. They may not be going gold like Drake or topping the MTV video charts, but I guarantee you it’s still damn good.