OTTAWA MUSIC VIDEO ROUNDUP | OCTOBER

October was a busy month in the capital! This month’s Ottawa Music Video Roundup includes 14 music videos. Artists include Timal Garnier, Chrissy Spratt, JustJamaal the Poet, Craig Cardiff, Dynamic and more!

We’re continuing to ask you, the fans, to vote for the capital’s Video of the Month. Check out the videos below in order of release date, then help us crown the top video in the city for September. Special shout out to our sponsor Greg Campbell – Blue Panda Realty.

Last month you voted for “Liu Kang” by Dip Black featuring Hevve as your video of the month.

Video of the Month (October) – Dip Black featuring Hevve – “Liu Kang”

Who will win for October?

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Squerl Noir
Mille Feux
Release date: October 4, 2019
Filmed and edited by: Antoine Simard-Legault (Lonely Fire Productions)

Francophone rapper and slam poet, Squerl Noir, set it off in October releasing his visuals for “Mille Feux”, the first French song on our list. In this video we get a look into skateboard culture which has fused with hip-hop culture in recent years. It’s actually refreshing to see a different aspect of hip-hop reflected on-screen. Throughout the video we see Squerl Noir hanging out at home before taking it to the streets on his skateboard. Then at night the flares come out. Hip-hop artists in the capital have been using their visuals to show off their city in new ways and Squerl Noir is no different.

Namour feat. Kofi
Wine
Release date: October 8, 2019
Directed by: Moshi Karim x Namour
Edited by: Moshi Karim (Goat Vision Studios)

Namour consistently delivers quality music videos, this one directed by Namour and Moshi Karim of Goat Vision Studios. Shot in Los Angeles, this video and song features strong vocals from Kofi. Namour and Moshi Karim give us exactly what you would expect from a video shot in L.A. – sunshine, palm trees and girls.

RØQM
Sh*t Talk
Release date: October 11, 2019
Shot by: L.M. Prod.
Directed and edited by: Yassine Visuals

Our next video is a freestyle from RØQM featuring locations along Bank Street in downtown Ottawa. The effects are pretty simple (what you would probably expect from a freestyle video), but paired with solid bars and flow, and good camera quality and editing from Yassine Visuals, it makes for a great visual experience.

OC34N
Storm
Release date: October 13, 2019
Directed by: 3fiftyco
Produced by: VICI

The video for OC34N’s Storm opens with a drone shot of Chicago before displaying some of the best shots of downtown Ottawa I’ve ever seen in a music video. Surrounded by office buildings in the business district, Ottawa is shown as a big city. There’s almost an I Am Legend vibe to the video with OC34N walking alone in the middle of an empty Laurier Street. With the occasional slow motion shot, close up or visual effect, there’s a lot of drama in this video. Overall, it’s probably one of my favourite videos of 2019.

Timal Garnier
Now – No one
Release date: October 15, 2019
Filmed & Edited by: John John

Timal Garnier, one of the hardest working artists not only on the Gatineau side but in the region altogether, is back with a video for his songs “Now” and “No one”. Filmed and edited by JohnJohn, the video was shot in Montreal. The first part of the video, for the song “Now”, was shot in downtown Montreal. The second half of the video, dedicated to the song “No one”, was shot in an abandoned building, giving us that gritty vibe.

5ALIL
2Day
Release date: October 20, 2019

During October 5ALIL dropped a pretty simple video for his song “2Day”. When you watch this video remember it was modified to be viewed on a smartphone.

Léon ‘fa du fond feat. Le Chum
Le Cœur à l’ouvrage
Release date: October 22, 2019
Filmed and edited by: PavFilms

“Le Cœur à l’ouvrage” from Léon ‘fa du fond is the second fully French video on our roundup this month. In this video we get some gritty vibes with Léon ‘fa du fond and Le Chum surrounded by the crew and a few girls. It’s a simple video but the cinematography and editing are well done. Overall, it’s a solid video from PavFilms.

Chrissy Spratt
X Up In Your Love
Release date: October 23, 2019
Shot and edited by: Fatty Soprano and Shutterr

As we saw on “Halo” a few months ago, the song and video for “X Up In Your Love” features some strong storytelling, this time from filmmakers Fatty Soprano and Shutterr. It was shot in downtown Toronto with some familiar sites like the St. Lawrence Market, Ripley’s Aquarium, and the TTC subway making an appearance. With the look of the lead actor and the cinematography, at times it feels reminiscent of an 80’s music video.

Kraizie J feat. Selekwa 
Bright Lights
Release date: October 25, 2019
Shot and edited by: Goat Vision Studios

This is the second Goat Vision shot and edited video on this month’s roundup. True to the song’s name, the video features Kraizie J and Gatineau’s own Selekwa in front of the bright lights of a fleet of jeeps, as well as the occasional beautiful woman.

JustJamaal the Poet feat. Jay Baskin x Rayssomi
The City
Release date: October 27, 2019
Filmed and edited by: James Harkness

In October, the city’s former poet laureate, JustJamaal the Poet, released the video for his first solo track “The City”. It opens with a cool timelapse of JustJamaal standing on a bridge with the sky and traffic passing him by. Perhaps some symbolism about him moving at his own pace while everything around him is rushing. The video features scenes of inner city life in Ottawa – police cars, King Edward Street, Rideau Street, broken basketball hoops, and the Abdirahman Abdi memorial. This isn’t an Ottawa Tourism campaign video; this is real life in the city. In the end this is all contrasted with a shot of Parliament Hill, the Ottawa we see on TV and in marketing campaigns. This is definitely the most rich content on our list with some very solid storytelling from filmmaker James Harkness.

Notic
Personal
Release date: October 27, 2019
Shot and edited by: Yassine Visuals

Notic is definitely one of the bright spots when you look at the city’s crop of up and coming MC’s. In October, he released the video for “Personal” off his new album Prepping for Death. This is the second video on our roundup from Yassine Visuals who killed it with this video. The lighting is ridiculous and the shots and transitions are clean.

Nathan Miles
HYLMN
Release date: October 27, 2019
Directed and edited by: Jaden Moyes and Francis Klan (3FIFTYCO)

Nathan Miles is back with “HYLMN” after recently dropping the video for “Hunnit”. Everything about Nathan Miles seems calculated and intentional (in a good way), from the visuals and music to his image and styling. Everything is well done and he just seems to understand today’s climate in hip-hop. There’s no deep concept to this video, but there doesn’t have to be. What we get is a card game, money, some dope outfits and Nathan Miles being Nathan Miles.

Craig Cardiff
Dirty Old Town
Release date: October 31, 2019
Filmed, directed and edited: Shannen Bamford

October also blessed us with a music video from probably Ottawa’s best songwriter, Craig Cardiff. This is obviously the only non-hip-hop video on our list, but it’s not everyday you get a video from Craig Cardiff so it deserves to be mentioned.

Filmed, directed and edited by Shannen Bamford, this video is set in New York City and features a love story playing out between our lead actors. Cardiff makes the occasional appearance, playing the guitar in front of a window with some subtle shadowing.

Dynamic
No Time
Release date: October 31, 2019
Directed by: Alexander Vlad (Captivate Creative Studios)

No music video roundup is complete with Dynamic, aka Ya Favourite Lightskin. He promised to drop a visual every month since releasing his album and so far he has delivered. He has also featured a different filmmaker every time. This month he worked with long time Ottawa filmmaker Alexander Vlad of Captivate Creative Studios.

“No Time” is a dark video. As Dynamic tackles the subject of pain we see the video’s subject, a woman in a bathtub, struggle to get free. Although the video is dark, both literally and figuratively, the lighting and cinematography are impeccable.

Inquire about sponsoring next month’s roundup at info@shifteragency.com.