Inadvertent BTS photos of Meka’s videoshoot
Ultraviolet reflections sporadically bouncing off of the windshields of DFW, early evening traffic wasn’t much of a distraction for me as I showcased my skills in maneuvering through cars. A minute part of me showed concern towards my lack in time management. “If time is as relevant as people say it is, that means I’m horrible at keeping up with it”, I whisper to myself under the sounds of 80’s goth rock playing on the truck stereo. Traveling from Denton to Dallas wasn’t a bother to me; caught in the middle of the north Texas traffic with reckless lane switching at high speeds from other drivers feels like home. Highways are treated like racing lanes similar to Texas Motor Speedway. The only difference is no one on the road was driving a race car (to my knowledge) and I-35 isn’t Texas Motor Speedway.
Strolling down Main Street in Downtown Dallas as a shortcut to get to my destination wasn’t the brightest idea to choose from. I felt like I made one exit too soon and the result was being bumper to bummer in the middle of daytime chaos; pedestrians flooding the city streets, valets smoking cigarettes and loudly chatting with co workers about a woman’s butt cheeks as she walked by, well dressed men exiting parking garages, groups of middle age single woman on foot wearing smiles, cars pumping the brakes on one way streets causing a car horn symphony and homeless citizens nestled into alleyways and in the corners of doorways of unoccupied buildings. Sure, Texas has recently became 100% open with the no mask mandate but for a citizen of Texas, it made little to no difference. Before then, it seemed as if COVID wasn’t a nuisance to many. Luckily, many restaurants still require mask upon entry. As I was inching closer to Malcolm X Blvd, the brief stroll through Deep Ellum filled my nostrils with a variety of food and the aroma of asphalt and exhaust fumes. Conversations, the sounds of sneakers scraping the pavement and other miscellaneous noises plugged my ears also cracked my window a bit. A right turn on Malcolm X on a short min later, I parked in the rocky parking lot, adjacent to the Creators Don’t Die venue
Initially, I set up a time with Meka to take photos of the venue and have a chat about it’s resurgence. As I walked towards the front of the venue, I texted Meka to bring awareness to my arrival. After I sent the text, I looked up to find Meka across the street sitting on a blue low rider bike that replicated the bike from the movie Baby Boy surrounded by others including a camera man. Immediately, I assumed he was about to begin a video shoot. After the thought, Meka notices me crossing the street and proved my assumption to be correct; he was about to film a video for his single that I had no idea of. Meka presented to me two options: hang out and shoot BTS photos for the video or proceed to do what I came for initially. The issue with the latter choice was he was already in the middle of something else so it would be a while before I was able to chat with him. Not a moment went by before making my decision. “Fuck it”, I told myself, “Let the opportunity of spontaneity determine my decision”. Meka didn’t give me any room to decide as I followed him as his crew around corner to shoot the video.
Within a matter of minutes the small group of creatives began to bring in quite a bit of residential attention and it quickly became a hotspot. Residents pulled up on foot or in their vehicles to see what was going on. There was no room for blame but enough room for the audience to whip out their phone to hop on Snapchat to record what was going on before their eyes. Temptation was present and they couldn’t help it: in the middle of the street was a handful of camera men and creatives working hand in hand, two very attractive young women showing off their feminine curvature with revealing outerwear dancing and posing around the star of the show. At one point, an older woman decided to hop out of her vehicle and proceeded to ask to become apart of the video. Respectfully, she was declined.
An older African American gentleman with grey hair and con artist grin arrived to the scene in a spotless, Maroon Chevrolet Corvette. He hopped out to get a good view of the shoot, mainly gawking at the young women involved. I don’t remember who thought of the idea of using the vehicle for the video but suddenly one of the women ended up driving the front seat of the Corvette and took it for a spin. “I hope he has insurance” flowed from my thoughts and out of mouth, loud enough for people to react with a bit of laughter.
My lack in time management reared it’s ugly head as the late evening approached. At first, I set an earlier time to meet with Meka but certain obstacles set me back, which caused me to cut my stay short. After taking some shots inside the venue, I made postponed the initial shoot with Meka before I parted ways.
