24 Herbs Rules!

Just a big shout out from Blighty to support my brothers from 24 Herbs!  Watching the "Superstar" MV brought back all the good memories from the shoot.  When I first heard "Superstar" and "24 Herbs" sitting in the office brainstorming with Terence, Conroy, Jason and Kim, my initial thought was, "Wow, I didn't know HK has such cool hip-hop music."

We kept throwing ideas out.  "Superstar" has a real nice groove to it, we felt that it'd be a traveling/journey MV.  Then Terence threw out this brilliant thought, associating the choir singing in the opening with the sunrise, and that triggered a spark in all of us.  So from the sunrise, came the choir, came Jesus Christ...

I was surprised when they asked if I wanted to direct the 24 Herbs' MVs.  I thought for sure the boys would direct them, since a) I don't think I have a lick of hip or hop in my bones and b) I don't know enough about bling bling or hydraulic pumping Cadillac...

Coming from a narrative film background, I decided to link the two MVs into one storyline.  Since all 6 members came from very different background, I thought it might be cool to make their very first MV as a “prelude”, an introduction of each of them to the audience, then followed by a performance MV.  

The concept for “Superstar” is simple.  All 6 members travel from work/home to meet up on stage.  Each individual journey tells you something about them, like Dor Yuk working at his studio, JBS working at his shop 8Five2, Phat taking pictures with his Lomo camera (he’s an avid filmmaker and a damn good one!)  So by the end when they arrive in front of the stage, they are ONE – 24 Herbs (!!) – and ready to perform.  We also put in other elements, the media tabloids and the real superstar footage, since the song talks about the unhealthy media industry and questions the definition of being a “superstar.”

Met up with the 24 boys the next day.  I confessed that the MVs wouldn’t have the usual bouncing car and booties.  They were totally down with it, saying that 24 isn’t about that at all…  These guys are just the coolest!

Given that I’ve listened to their songs 500+ times, I can claim that I’m their biggest fan!  Great music, meaningful lyrics, and 6 cool dudes… can’t ask for more...

So go and check out the “Superstar” MV, and be sure to come back and check out Part II – the “24 Herbs” MV (co-directed and edited by the amazing Phat!) which should be up in the very near future.