You say no to drugs, Juicy J can't
Since the Three 6 Mafia co-founder stops through Atlanta Thursday night, here's one of his trippy videos, directed by Atlanta's own Figz
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Last time Juicy J came to Atlanta, he made dicks of us all. I imagine tonight will be no different, minus the Halloween costumes.
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Coincidentally, the month-old video to "Juicy J Can't" (above) was directed by Atlantan Figz!, who's spotlighted in this week's cover story on the local video director grind. His Juicy J video was one of the visuals that made me reach out to him — along with his 2010 Travis Porter joint, "Make It Rain" — mainly because it was so trippy.
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We spent an hour in a recording studio off Spring St., where he does most of his editing, watching videos around 1 in the morning as he explained some of his editing techniques, like the seizure-effect (flashes timed to the lawn-sprinkler snares), kaleidoscope effect, keying out, mirror effect and slow mo. The more he talked about the songs and how much he's influenced by the producers behind some of them — like Virginia beatsmith Lex Luger, Atlanta's Mike Will Made It, and others — I realized his editing techniques are his visual interpretation of the music.
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Like Lex Luger, who's known for producing hits in a matter of minutes, Figz can work fast behind the camera. When he shot Gucci Mane's "North Pole" in 40 minutes, even Gucci was stunned.
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He makes an appearance about midway through the Juicy vid above when he turns the camera to himself while Juicy pauses in the middle of the shoot to holler at some chicks. They shot it in L.A. and Vegas, hence the Caesar's Palace-looking treatment. The outcome is appropriately hood, or to bring back an old term, sort of ghetto fab, considering it was just him and Juicy J running and gunning on the shoot. I'm going to pick a few of my favorite Figz videos, along with Motion Family, Decatur Dan, and Phil the God before the week is over, but for now, I just wanted to post this Juicy J joint to preview tonight's show.
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Juicy J, Freddie Gibbs, Dom Kennedy. $20. Tonight (Thurs., Feb. 2). Quad/Spring 4th Complex, 714 Spring St. 404-870-0040. www.spring4th.com.