A good song with a message great; A video with a backstory, that much better.
Via Youtube:
Tony Bingham, a sincere friend, found our location for this video at the last minute - and we were of course elated. But on the shooting day in question, the skies produced rain clouds for miles.
I sat silently, thinking how I'd finally gotten to shoot a music video for this band (I had already directed their EPK and documentary), and now the heavens were not cooperating. Clearly a disaster was abound. I decided to shoot anyway. Maybe two takes in, I'd pretty much given up on the clip having any signature look...everything was drab, muddy and dark.
But within, it seemed, seconds, a wondrous thing happened. I received a call from my steadicam operator who said prior his schedule would not allow for him to be there - now he was asking for directions. My smile began. Once he arrived, the cloud cover peeled back. We had a stretch of about 3 hours of moist sunlight! Outstanding!
After a bit of fertile photography, we packed up and left the farm location, stumbling accidently on a small shack in the middle of nowhere. Funny, when I entered the rickety structure, a visible hole stood out in the middle of the place. I thought out loud, "Quick, let's place the camera down there, and spin it in a circle to catch each band member in a different part of this open house. Worked like a charm!
And when I suggested Speech sit in the window, the sun grew brighter for our two only takes. God...is all one can say.
We traveled back to downtown ATL, where I was favored with the distinct honor of working with famed artist, Radcliffe Bailey. A polished professional. He braved rush hour traffic, and seedy alleyways for us to capture what was pure about his work even then.
We ended our spirited day at the Scoville Hotel, where we finalized our efforts for the remainder of the concept.
I sat silently, thinking how I'd finally gotten to shoot a music video for this band (I had already directed their EPK and documentary), and now the heavens were not cooperating. Clearly a disaster was abound. I decided to shoot anyway. Maybe two takes in, I'd pretty much given up on the clip having any signature look...everything was drab, muddy and dark.
But within, it seemed, seconds, a wondrous thing happened. I received a call from my steadicam operator who said prior his schedule would not allow for him to be there - now he was asking for directions. My smile began. Once he arrived, the cloud cover peeled back. We had a stretch of about 3 hours of moist sunlight! Outstanding!
After a bit of fertile photography, we packed up and left the farm location, stumbling accidently on a small shack in the middle of nowhere. Funny, when I entered the rickety structure, a visible hole stood out in the middle of the place. I thought out loud, "Quick, let's place the camera down there, and spin it in a circle to catch each band member in a different part of this open house. Worked like a charm!
And when I suggested Speech sit in the window, the sun grew brighter for our two only takes. God...is all one can say.
We traveled back to downtown ATL, where I was favored with the distinct honor of working with famed artist, Radcliffe Bailey. A polished professional. He braved rush hour traffic, and seedy alleyways for us to capture what was pure about his work even then.
We ended our spirited day at the Scoville Hotel, where we finalized our efforts for the remainder of the concept.
Click Through For Lyrics, bio, and more:
Here have a dollar
in fact now brotherman here have two
two dollars means a snack for me
but it means a big deal to you
be strong serve god only
know that if you do beautiful heaven awaits
that's the poem i wrote for the first time
i saw a man with no clothes, no money, no plate
mr. wendal, that's his name
no one ever knew his name cuz he's a know one
never thought twice about spending on an old bum
until i had the chance to really get to know one
now that i know 'em to give him money isn't charity
he gives me some knowledge, i buy him some shoes
and to think blacks spend all their money on big colleges
still most of you come out confused
go ahead mr. wendal
go ahead mr. wendal
mr. wendal has freedom
a free that you and i think he's dumb
free to be without the worries of a quick to diss society
for mr. wendal's a bum
his only worries are sickness and occasional harassment
by the police and their chase
uncivilized we call him but i just saw him
eat off the food we waste
civilization, are we really civilized
yes or no, who are we to judge
when thousands of innocent men could be brutally enslaved and killed over a racist grudge
mr. wendal has tried to warn us about our ways
but we don't hear him talk
it's not his fault when we're goin' too far and we got too far
cuz on him we walk
mr. wendal, a man, a human in flesh, but not by law
i feed you dignity to stand with pride
realize now that all in all we stand tall
go ahead mr. wendal
in fact now brotherman here have two
two dollars means a snack for me
but it means a big deal to you
be strong serve god only
know that if you do beautiful heaven awaits
that's the poem i wrote for the first time
i saw a man with no clothes, no money, no plate
mr. wendal, that's his name
no one ever knew his name cuz he's a know one
never thought twice about spending on an old bum
until i had the chance to really get to know one
now that i know 'em to give him money isn't charity
he gives me some knowledge, i buy him some shoes
and to think blacks spend all their money on big colleges
still most of you come out confused
go ahead mr. wendal
go ahead mr. wendal
mr. wendal has freedom
a free that you and i think he's dumb
free to be without the worries of a quick to diss society
for mr. wendal's a bum
his only worries are sickness and occasional harassment
by the police and their chase
uncivilized we call him but i just saw him
eat off the food we waste
civilization, are we really civilized
yes or no, who are we to judge
when thousands of innocent men could be brutally enslaved and killed over a racist grudge
mr. wendal has tried to warn us about our ways
but we don't hear him talk
it's not his fault when we're goin' too far and we got too far
cuz on him we walk
mr. wendal, a man, a human in flesh, but not by law
i feed you dignity to stand with pride
realize now that all in all we stand tall
go ahead mr. wendal
Biography Via Steve Huey:
One of the major success stories of 1992, Arrested Development are a progressive rap collective fusing soul, blues, hip-hop, and Sly & the Family Stone-influenced funk with political, socially conscious lyrics. The group was founded in the late '80s by rapper Speech and DJ Headliner, who decided to make the transition to a more positive, Afrocentric viewpoint after hearing Public Enemy. Arrested Development's debut album took its title from the amount of time it took the group to secure a record contract; 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... produced the hit single "Tennessee," a strongly spiritual track that hit the Top Ten and sparked the album to sell over four million copies. Its two follow-ups, "People Everyday" (a rewrite of Sly's "Everyday People") and "Mr. Wendal" did likewise. Accolades poured in; Arrested Development won Grammys for Best Rap Album and Best New Artist, and was named Rolling Stone's Band of the Year. The group returned one year later with Zingalamaduni, which some reviews hailed as a major work, though overall response was more ambivalent. In 1996, contrary to Speech's earlier assertion that the group would be around for ten or 12 years, Arrested Development officially broke up. Speech went solo, though his debut album failed to make an impact. In 2006, the band reunited and released Since the Last Time in Japan. A year later the album saw release in the U.S.
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