Konee Rok is an American

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

and documentary director. He has done film and video work with many popular artists in hip-hop, rap music and

break dancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

culture. He has directed music videos, documentaries and commercials featuring

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winner Rhymefest,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success ...

, rapper

Cassidy Cassidy may refer to: Personal names * Cassidy (given name) * Cassidy (surname) People * Cassidy (musician) (born 1979), lead singer of Antigone Rising * Cassidy (rapper) (born 1982), American rapper * DJ Cassidy (born 1981), New York DJ * Jame ...

, Little Jon,

DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alo ...

of the Fresh Prince and

Phife Dawg Malik Izaak Taylor (November 20, 1970March 22, 2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg (or simply Phife), was an American rapper and a member of the group A Tribe Called Quest with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (and for a short time Jarob ...

of A Tribe Called Quest. His documentary on ''

MC Juice Terry Parker (born July 10, 1973), known professionally as MC Juice (often stylized as J.U.I.C.E), is an American Rapping, rapper from Chicago, Illinois. History Growing up, Juice spent the first four years of his life in Chicago, Illinois, bef ...

'' tells the story behind the freestyle M.C.'s battle against rapper Eminem. He directed the Chicago street gang film ''Trust None'' with

Psychodrama Psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jacob L. Moreno and h ...

and

Crucial Conflict Crucial Conflict is an American hip hop group from Chicago, composed of Wondosas "Kilo" Martin, Ralph "Wildstyle" Leverston, Corey "Coldhard" Johnson and Marrico "Never" King, best known for their marijuana-themed 1996 hit single " Hay". The gr ...

. He also has directed numerous video projects in the underground hip hop and

community. Konee Rok is a member of the b-boy/breakdance crew, Chicago Tribe.

Recent work

On March 17, 2020 Konee Rok collaborated with Adobe to create the animated music video for DJ Aktive's "The City" featuring Common,

Freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

& Bri Steves. Co-produced by

Ivan Barias Ivan Barias is part of the Philadelphia production duo Carvin & Ivan. Initially starting out as a solo hip hop artist, he moved into production and songwriting. He has written and produced songs for artists including Jazmine Sullivan, Jill Scott ...

. The video is a vibrant homage to the cities that each musician holds dear to their hearts, specifically Chicago and Philadelphia, including the people, places, and iconic images for which each city is known. Chicago native, Konee Rok completed this cinematic animated video by himself in only two months. Konee's use of animation in a cinematic way is what really makes this project one of a kind. The result is a stunning piece that gives the viewer a glimpse into how each city has helped to mold each artist's journey. For the visual, each MC takes a journey through their hometown. Freeway's journey is inspired by the history of the city and his own highs and lows, including his kidney transplant and an homage to the legendary film character

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...

. Bri Steves takes a long walk through Philly before taking the train to Chicago. In the Windy City, Common gives us the 10 cent tour of all the city's landmarks. Aktive shows where the city has taken him with a short scene of him on tour with Janet Jackson. Finally, the clip ends with the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff making the earth move like he makes the turntables groove, representing the influence of the city of Philadelphia on the world. "The City video is a great visual with amazing animation that brings the song that Common, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Freeway, Bri-Steves and I created to life." says DJ Aktive. Common shares. "I love how this song and video represents the true culture of Hip-Hop." On February 11, 2011 Raekwon released the Konee Rok directed music video for "Shaolin vs Wu-Tang," the title track from The Chef's upcoming album of the same name. The video features a hybrid of cartoon martial artistry with live action of Raekwon laying down his vocals. In late November, 2012 singer

Chrisette Michele Chrisette Michele Payne (born December 8, 1982) is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song " Be OK" (featuring will.i.am). She was previously signed to Motown Record ...

debuted the Konee Rok directed music video for her song "Can the Cool Be Loved?" featuring Dunson and Bilal. Chrisette Michele gave an explanation about the clip, offering, "A fun lil Audiovisual Presentation Konee Rok and I drummed up. The concept is "Prisoner of a Still Picture" Dunson and I are stuck in the iconic photography of Audrey and the great Sir Davis. We pose in these lyrics, the question, "Can The Cool Be Loved?" From our Art to Yours... Enjoy.". In early February 2014,

of A Tribe Called Quest premiered the Konee Rok directed music video "Dear Dilla"; produced by Dj Rasta Root. The song which pays homage to legendary Hip Hop producer

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...

, is Phife's first solo release in 14 years and it is the first single off of his upcoming album ''MUTTYmorphosis''. The clip finds Phife paying homage the best way he knows how, sharing some of his bars, and his memories of the legend, while supplying a nice set of visuals that match each bar specifically. The video tribute gives the sentiment a colorful upgrade as the "5 Footer" shoots his scenes everywhere from Atlanta to Dilla's hometown of Detroit to give the lyrics an organic feel. "Dear Dilla" was filmed in Chicago as well as two days in J. Dilla's hometown of Detroit. The video was #1 on "The Wrap Up: Hip-Hop Wired's Top 10 Videos Of The Week" for the week of February 14, 2014.

References

External links

Official Konee Rok site
KoneeRok.com news, videos & project history {{DEFAULTSORT:Rok, Konee American music video directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people)