The Witzard

"The video began taking shape a year ago. Fab [5 Freddy] and I have been friends for a while now and we connected with Peanut Butter Wolf . Wolf thought Vex Ruffin would be a great fit with my animation style. The video and song have strong connection to Fab 's earlier Hip-Hop NYC roots. I started as an experimental animator, so this was a great chance for me to get real crazy with it. Giving a nod to the early 80's experimental films that the sound is inspired from," director and animator Ben Marlowe wrote within an email Wednesday afternoon, concerning his latest creation, "The Balance." Marlowe says it was "filmed, then created using a [combination] of hand animation and special effects" over the course of the past year. "The Balance" is Vex Ruffin 's first properly released sampling of new music since his self-titled (alternatively known as ¢ ) 2013 Stones Throw debut full-length; while it additionally serves as one-tim...

It almost seems wrong to [mis]label an artist as blatantly prolific and broad-spanning as Shawn "Jay Z" Carter as a mere rapper; Since he's arguably a powerful entrepreneur, businessman, record exec, sports agent, club owner, and 1/2 of a dynamic power-couple. After releasing his Samsung -backed Magna Carta... Holy Grail album on July 4th, he's once again teamed up with iconic "99 Problems" music video director Mark Romanek to create a 10-minute "Picasso Baby" performance art film. Recorded last month at Chelsea 's own Pace Gallery , Romanek's team managed to capture 40+ hours worth of film over a 6-hour period with 8 meticulously-placed cameras. Loosely inspired by a similarly-minded Marina Abramović performance-art piece, The Artist Is Present , Jay Z & Mark Romanek packed the room full of creative types, eager super-fans, and journalists including: Judd Apatow , Alan Cummings, George Condo , Rosie Perez, Fab 5 Freddy , Taraj...