3,920,468 Million views and counting. That’s what Joyner Lucas’ video for Will, a tribute to Will Smith, with a strong focus on giving our idols their roses while they’re still alive, sits at as of 4:28 PM March 26th (24 hours after hitting Youtube).
Once the nostalgia from seeing almost everything Will Smith did starts to fade the first thought that comes to mind after watching this video on repeat is “Damn, whoever directed this video — which was Ben Proulx & Joyner Lucas himself– really brought the song to life word for word. But what if that wasn’t even the case? About 2 years ago we had a chance to sit down with Joyner and asked him how he approaches the creative process when it comes to producing video content. Mind you this interview happened a few weeks before he dropped in ‘I’m Not Racist’ video which sits at 136M views.
Will Toms: So you mentioned the theme around all these different ideas. What’s your process like when it comes up for the music video? Is it like “I have this visual concept I wanna get out first or is it the song first?”
Joyner: “It’s always the visual first. I’ll be thinking of ideas for the videos and then I build the songs around the video. I write music video treatment first and then from there I go into creating the record.”
We’ve always appreciated Joyner’s thoughtfulness around his video work. As a creator, Joyner clearly understands the media landscape. In a world where anyone can shoot video and upload, he takes the time to invest in engaging concepts that spark meaningful dialogue and leave lasting impressions. At this point, he’s built a reputation for himself that fans can count on it to be an experience anytime he drops.
And he doesn’t pull punches on the subject matter either. Joyner has consistently used his platform to hold space for important conversations touching on a range of topics including racism, suicide awareness, gun violence, toxic relationships, unplanned pregnancy and more.
Joyner’s courage to speak truth to these uncomfortable topics matched with his uncanny ability to translate his bold visions to the digital screen has proved to be a recipe for success that hasn’t missed.
How have you been thinking about your content strategy? If there was ever a good time to audit and sharpen up your digital presence it’s now, and this month’s programming will help you do exactly that. All through April, we’ll be hosting Curriculum Deep Dives and REC Sessions covering the art of “Building Your Digital Ecosystem” and “Mastering the Content Game.”
