Behind every iconic music video is a director chasing a feeling, not approval.
In his talk on visual identity and the world of music video direction, Director X spoke about the importance of making work that feels true to you before trying to please an audience.
“You have to be selfish. If you try to make something the audience likes, it sucks the soul out of it.”
For him, every video needs its own visual language. Not just a story, but a distinct world, rhythm, and feeling. Music videos sit somewhere between fashion photography and filmmaking, where performance, movement, styling, editing, and instinct all work together to create something unforgettable.
He broke down the balance between art and execution: knowing the science behind your craft, understanding every detail on set, and being prepared enough to improvise when the unexpected happens. From animatics and prep to instinctive moments on set, the process is as technical as it is creative.
One of the strongest lessons came from the edit room. While recutting Hotline Bling with Drake, he realized that no matter how beautiful a shot is, performance always comes first.
“You have to sacrifice a shot you love for the performance shot that has the energy.”
The conversation also touched on collaboration, respecting the artist’s vision while still infusing your own, and the constant challenge of creating something no one else would make.
And maybe the most reassuring advice of all, originally passed down from Hype Williams:
“You have to fight that feeling that you suck.”
Welcoming Director X to Channel 4+.
A rare access point into how visuals shape artists into icons, from idea to image to cultural impact.
Artist to Icon: The Power of Visual Identity.
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🎶🎶🎶 We made it on our ownnnnnnnn 🎶🎶🎶 Still frames from @Yeat & @EsDeeKid “We Made It On Our Own” Had alot of fun making this. Thanks again @Champagnepapi for letting us use the house!
One day i got a call from @colebennett introducing me to @zackbia who wanted me to shoot a video for @yeat and @esdeekid . Next thing I knew I’m in @champagnepapi house singing “We Made It On Our Owwwwnnnnnnnn” This was a fun one, I love witnessing hip hop grow and change. Drake, thanks for letting us use your crib!
Before we start with me saying “here’s some stills from Boyfriend” what the hell is going on with these record labels and the music that is available to us??? I can only find this acoustic version of Boyfriend then a bunch of covers and strange remixes 🤬 anyways… here’s some stills from Justin Bieber “Boyfriend”. This was a one day shoot, a fairly big production with all these cars, models, dancers, wardrobe, stunt drivers, and since we shot on 35mm film the night shots required LIGHTS! 💰None of this high ASA digital camera stuff going on. If light wasn’t hitting it, it was pitch black darkness 🤣 film nerds know! That Kodak 400 was doing a lot of work! 😩 All said and done, I’m happy with how one came out. A good solid pop star video. #justinbeiberboyfriend #DirectorX #LittleX #musicvideos #35mmfilm
directorx • • Creator
Talking about directing Justin Bieber’s music video for Boyfirend. Why there’s another video in the video, why he’s wearing all black, and pondering future civilizations perceptions of our society from parking lot party music videos 🤣 #justinbieberboyfriend #musicvideos #directorx #littlex
#nsyncgirlfriend
Wait till you see my... stills... wait till you see my music video stills from the Ying Yangs “Wait” (The Whisper Song). My philosophy for making a music video for a dirty song is to clean it up. So “wait till you see my 🍆 music video becomes men in suits, women in dresses. It turned this song that shouldn’t be anywhere near daytime airplay, into TV high rotation. #yingyangtwinswhisper #musicvideos2000 #littlex #directorx
Y’all remember this one. The Ying Yang Twins “Wait” (The Whisper Song). This one put my philosophy in action: Dirty songs need clean videos. Dressing these boys up in suits and classing up the visual vibe allowed the dirty lyrics to land softly. This was a high rotation video for a song that had no business being played before nighttime 😂. Maybe I shouldn’t have helped… #LITTLEX #2000snostalgia #DIRECTORX #YINGYANGTWINS #MUSICVIDEOS
U got it, I got it bad 🎶🎶
Some stills from Usher U Got It Bad. Of all the music videos I’ve directed this is one of my favourites. The storytelling, set design along with the song and Usher’s performance combined to make one of those special moments in the culture. #usherugotitbad #littlex #2000musicvideos #directorx #rnbmusic
Looking back at @Usher “U Got It Bad” (the director’s cut! There’s a shot in here that the world has NEVER seen 🤫). This is one of my favorite and best videos I’ve directed. The song, the story, the performance all hit. In my view it’s what a music video is supposed to do. Match the emotion, the meaning, the feeling of the record and at the same time create a space for the artist to show case their talents. For this to work the record needs to have heart and artists needs to have the talent. This record is truly great, shout out @JermaineDupri , and Usher is a generational talent. When this video dropped I received more calls from friends and associates than almost any other project. They were telling me how much they’d been affected by the video with stories of how they were getting calls from ex girlfirends or boyfriends wanting to talk and clear the air 😂 One record exec stopped me at a event to ask “why didn’t he go into the trailer X?!?” I knew that he was going through his own U Got It Bad moment 🤣 We’ve all been through 💔 “U got it, U got it bad...” 🎶 #littlex #usher #2000musicvideos #ugotitbadusher #rnbthrowbacks
I’m so fancy! Some video stills from Iggy Azalea featuring Charlie XCX “Fancy” (I’ve regretted not putting Iggy walking down the hall in the yellow outfit in the first verse, so I’m getting a little correction here in the order. The mistakes you make on set stay with you 😫)
I have a regret with this video, that haunts me to this day... Looking back at Iggy Azalea featuring Charlie XCX “Fancy”… Beyond the regret, this video is a great example of how a focused artist can make their music video something that adds and propels the song. All in all lots of good memories from this one, except that one thing... #director #classicmusicvideo ##iggyazalea #Charliexcx
