S. Samuel
Renowned director Benny Boom recently spoke on stepping behind the lens of Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne's "High School" music video and what all really went down with their intimate scenes.
Boom said their main focus was on creating a fictional romance instead of going down the raunchy route.
“[Laughs] It was interesting. I mean what we captured on film–was much like in a movie when you have two actors that are friends and they have to do a love scene together–it can be awkward. It was just sort of this awkward moment between two friends having to do something so personal for the video. Honestly, it was difficult for them to get through it without laughing but it was fun. It came off right. The way we lit the set and the way that we shot it came off very tasteful, and that was the approach that we wanted.” (VIBE)
Benny also noted the Young Money duo’s emphasis on showing respect and touched on the brief kissing scene.
“It was less about being shy and more about him being respectful. It was just like the three of us talking, because it was pretty much a closed set at that point so he’s asking me questions like: ‘Okay so, how do you want to frame this?’ and you know ‘What should we do?’ And it wasn’t him, like, man-handling and pawing. None of that was going on. It was a very respectful situation from both of them, and I wouldn’t say he was being shy at all. … [Laughs] We wanted to shoot something that gave you that feeling of like old Hollywood romance novel covers so each of those moments were sort of staged. We kind of choreographed them, believe it or not.” (VIBE)
A few days ago, Nicki talked about stripping away her clothes for Weezy in the must-watch visual.
“Not only is he my boss, but he’s also like my brother,” Minaj said. “It’s very weird because I’m just used to Wayne making fun of me, and all of Young Money boys making fun of me, so every time they yelled ‘Cut!’ I was just being picked on. It was completely them being bullies to me. But it’s still like Wayne is still so sexy and so I texted Wayne and I was like, you’re going to have all the chicks back on you, know what I’m saying? Because when this video comes out, he looks like art, he looks like a piece of art all tatted up, all sexy, black and beautiful.” (MTV)
After weeks of teaser videos and behind-the-scenes photos, their “High School” music video premiered online last Tuesday (April 2).
This is a pretty good one, though, all things considered: The song, with assistance from Lil Wayne, is sultry and provocative, and now with a visual component it’s even more dynamic: Minaj struts and flaunts in a lot of sexy swimsuits, makes out with Wayne in a bedroom, and appears to be a jewel thief, or something? Because she and Weezy escape via helicopter with some diamonds at the end of the video? Whatever. It’s not totally clear. Also, it doesn’t totally matter. Narrative matters much less here than her curves and weaves. Even though the clip was shot before his seizure scare, it’s still nice to see Weezy in typically lecherous form, up to his old tricks. Looks like it’s business as usual — for now. (Idolator)
Check out the “High School” music video:
