The Missing Thug

Celebrities can be very demanding and hard to work with. Their egos can change based on their mood, and their mood can be changed by one event. However, imagine directing an entire music video for a rapper who you have never met and never got to meet. This is exactly what Ryan Staake did for Young Thug, because he did not show up to the video shoot for his song “Wyclef Jean”. As you assume this is probably an inconceivably challenging mission. Nonetheless, Staake’s unwavering determination did to get this video done accomplished just that for Atlanta rapper Young Thug (Jeffery Lamar Williams). The video was released on January 16, 2017 and in just under a month; it has reached over 14 million views. Staake who “co-directed” this video with Young Thug (as he put it in the video) is a director, writer and producer for Pomp&Clout (who he shouts out towards the end of the video), where he is the owner and executive producer. Staake has worked with the likes of ScHoolboy Q, Lil Wayne, Charlie Puth, J. Cole, and many more, but I can only imagine that the video he shot for Young Thug was nothing like he has ever experienced before. Staake was determined to show us as an audience that no matter what adversity we face triumph is still plausible and that sometimes different is exactly what is needed.

            The aspects that make this video so great is Staake’s ability to do something different most have never seen or ever imagined seeing. The difference in this video comes from the fact that Staake narrates the entire video through text. Therefore, it certainly keeps you paying attention throughout its entirety. It begins with a voice recording of the ideas Young Thug had for the video shoot. As the

video begins Young Thug’s voice become subtitles. As the subtitles pop up so does the exact thing Young Thug wants in the background. Although it is Staake’s job to make what an artist’s wants to come true he did exactly that. His attention to detail and instruction seems unparalleled when it comes to this video in particular. They shoot the first scene and he explains that Young Thug did not show up in time for that part of the video, which explains why we, as the audience, have not yet seen him in video. Shortly after, he says that Young Thug actually never showed to for any of the shots in this video. With four minutes to go in the video we begin to wonder what exactly the rest of the video has in store without the artist that made the song ever being there. This is simply to me just when Staake begins to get truly creative and embraces the moment.

            Staake could have just sat around with all of the his equipment and people ready to go and waited for Young Thug’s arrival on that day, but that was evidently not in his plans. This is what seems like the start of him making the most out of a bad situation. He does not sit around; he takes initiative and begins to shoot anyways. He even put a few clips that Young Thug shot on his own, that were sent to him two months after their initial video shoot. Which makes you wonder just when exactly the video was shot and how long did it take before Young Thug approved the release of the video? However, Staake made the most out the footage, by editing it in to give Young Thug a brief cameo in his own music video. He even jokes saying he wished he had thought of the idea to have Young Thug eating Hot Cheetos. This is just the beginning of Staake’s explanation of how the video fell apart. He points out places where Young Thug is supposed to appear in the video even placing and empty car and drawing a sketch outline of him in one scene. He goes on to question whether Young Thug would have like the video he set up seeing as how it was everything he asked for (spending $100,000 in the process), but in the end says it does not matter, no of it matter because he

never showed up. So does it matter that the artist did not show up? Most would say yes and maybe even Staake would himself, but he eventually realized he had done his job and that is all that he could do despite the absent rapper. That is what makes this video so enticing to the audience. As many in the theatrical world say “the show must go on” and it did, Young Thug or not the video seems to flourish without him.

            This video draws your attention to it simply because you want to know what exactly is going to happen next. Staake does a great job of keeping you entertained throughout while give the audience a bit of comic relief and explanations. It is different in the fact that narration in a music video is not common or thought of as appealing, but for this one it seems to be exactly what it needed. Making the most out of a bad situation seems to be the underlying theme of the video in general and can even be an underlying theme of some situations that we all face in life. The fact is for most people the a music video is nothing without the music but in this case the music is faded into the background and the video and narration become the true focal point. So much so that even once the song end you are told so and yet you feel inclined to watch on to see what else might happen. That is the exactly sense of enticement Staake brings to this music video and keeps you watching.