Edwin Decena 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 independent film director. Edwin first contribution as a filmmaker came directing and editing the reggaeton documentary " Chosen Few: El Documental."

Early life and education

Decena was born in

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and is of Dominican descent. He graduated from

Passaic High School Passaic High School is a four-year community public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Passaic, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Passaic City School District. The school has ...

and studied

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

at Rutgers-Newark. While at Rutgers, he hosted a college radio show where he interviewed several independent hip hop artist that he would eventually direct music video for.

Career

Music Videos

Decena has created a number of music videos for many artists, including Plies featuring T-Pain (" Shawty"), Cupid ("

Cupid Shuffle "Cupid Shuffle" is a song by Cupid (singer), Cupid from his 2007 studio album ''Time for a Change (album), Time for a Change''. It has spawned a popular line dance and has drawn comparisons to DJ Casper's "Cha Cha Slide". In the United States, th ...

"),

Lil Boosie Torence Ivy Hatch (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Boosie BadAzz or simply Boosie (formerly Lil Boosie), is an American rapper. Hatch began rapping in the 1990s as a member of the hip hop collective Concentration Camp, ev ...

featuring Jeezy (" Better Believe It"),

Jaheim Jaheim H. Hoagland (born May 26, 1978), known mononymously as Jaheim, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He was signed by Naughty by Nature's Kaygee to Divine Mill Records in 2000, and released his debut album ''Ghetto Love (album), Ghe ...

(" Never"),

Webbie Webster Gradney, Jr. (born September 6, 1985) who performs under the mononym Webbie, is an American rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He's been signed to the independent Trill Entertainment label since 2003. In 2005 he came into the hip hop ...

(" I Miss You"),

Rich Boy Marece Benjamin Richards (born September 2, 1983), better known by his stage name Rich Boy, is an American rapper from Mobile, Alabama. He is best known for the hit single "Throw Some D's" (featuring Polow da Don) released in August 2006. It was ...

Let's Get This Paper The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request. The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. To form the imperative mood, ...

"), Saigon featuring

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

and

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Blaze attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue his mu ...

(" C'mon Baby"), DG Yola ("Ain't Gon Let Up"),

Troy Ave Roland Collins (born November 23, 1985), better known by the stage name Troy Ave, is an American rapper from the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. His moniker derives from Troy Avenue, a street near his childhood home. In N ...

("Rep For My City"),

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

("Blood Sweat and Tears"), Anthony Hamilton featuring

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by the stage name Musiq Soulchild or simply Musiq (pronounced "music") is an American singer and songwriter whose style blends R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and gospel influences fused w ...

and Jaheim (" Struggle No More"),

Red Cafe Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

featuring

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

and Diddy ("Money, Money, Money"), Maino featuring Swizz Beaz (" Million Bucks"), and

Slim Slim or SLIM may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slim Goodbody, a fictional character who teaches about anatomy * Slim, one of the alien antagonists of the 1988 film '' Killer Klowns from Outer Space'' * Slim, the Pixl fro ...

featuring

Yung Joc Jasiel Amon Robinson (born September 20, 1980), better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2006 hit single " It's Goin' Down". and as a feature on T-Pain's US number-one single "Buy U a Drank (Shawt ...

and

Shawty Lo Carlos Rico Walker (March 22, 1976 – September 21, 2016), better known as Shawty Lo, was an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He initially came to prominence as a founding member of the Southern hip hop group D4L, and in 2000 founded D4 ...

So Fly "So Fly" is the debut single of 112 band member Slim from his debut album '' Love's Crazy''. It features rapper Yung Joc and produced by Oddz N Endz. The song has reached #49 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Track listing ;Digital download # ...

").

Short and Feature Films

In 2006, he co-directed the feature film, Transformations with his childhood friend Javier Molina. The film went on the win an Odyssey Award for best feature film at the 5th Annual H2O International Film Festival. In 2011, Edwin directed 2 part short film series entitle
Hunting Shadows
starring Rob Morgan, Darlenis Duran, Goya Robles and

Tanaya Henry Tanaya Henry is an American jewelry designer and model from Minnesota. Career She graduated from Prior Lake Senior High in 2006. Shortly after moving to New York, Henry signed with Wilhelmina Models. Henry gained attention when she became a hum ...

Style

Throughout the majority videos in which he collaborated with cinematographer Kitao Sakurai, Decena employed the use of handheld camera which enhanced the immediacy of the visual experience. As a response to declining production budgets, Decena's work focused on

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

, cinematic aesthetic, and an attempt honest characterizations of his subjects as opposed to hype realistic and flashy imagery.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Decena, Edwin American music video directors American people of Dominican Republic descent People from Passaic, New Jersey Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Rutgers University alumni