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How did you and Drake connect?
I’m a big fan of Drake and I was really excited when he called me about doing it, and really put a lot into making it special and capturing what I think is an image he hasn’t had yet. Here’s a guy whose lyrical presence does not equal his visual presence yet, by any means. That’s something that he and I spoke a lot about. He felt strongly that nobody had really captured him, and some of the videos that had been done were less iconic than he would like to be represented as.

What’s your thought process when approaching a video?
In all honesty, I don’t really care what other people have done with somebody. If I did, I would put myself in a lane with other people. To my failure or my success, I always want to do something different, so you look at “Run This Town” or “Russian Roulette,” and it’s always about trying to separate and move the needle over. I’m not saying that he made bad videos, I’m just saying that I wanted to do something different with him. I really like to get on the phone, get in person, really kind of talk it through with the artist, and really try to understand where the song came from, what’s their overall story, who are they, what’s the character, and how does that relate.

What struck you about Drake?
This guy’s story is so fascinating. Here you have a half-black, half-Jewish kid. You got a kid that’s on a really accessible TV show, but in two years he’s the hottest thing in the streets. You got a guy that is living all the fantasies out at every level, but he is also a really humble kid and wants to have a family and live a normal life. He’s a kid who’s conflicted, and one thing he said to me in the first conversation that was so poignant, he referenced that line from “Successful”: “I want the money, cars, and the clothes…” and then he says, “I suppose.” It’s like that self doubt. It’s so refreshing that he’s confident, but he’s not arrogant. I think that dimensionality is so important in a genre that is very one note with words like “bravado” and “swagger” and “arrogance” and “promiscuity.” Here’s a guy that’s finally putting a duality to the words and saying, “Yeah, I have all that and I do all that, but I’m also somebody that’s asking, is that what I should be doing with my life?”

Full Interview

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