Playlist: Bafic

London-based artist/director Bafic works across the mediums of photography, film, public installation & internet user generated art.

Bafic's previous collaborators and clients include Vice, Nike, adidas, Sonos, Dazed, Neneh Cherry, Mabel McVey, Topsafe, Smirnoff, Boiler Room, ICA, and Tate.

What’s the best music video you’ve seen recently and why?

Radiohead - Daydreaming, Jay-Z - 4:44 is interesting.

What’s the first music video you remember being impressed by?

Kanye West - Flashing Lights (Spike Jonze). I was just obsessed with it. It’s simply done and made really well, it’s also very loaded and interesting especially for a rap video. You don’t really see women or rappers portrayed like that.

And what’s your all-time favourite music video?

Kanye West - Flashing Lights (Spike Jonze)

What other directors/artists do you look to for inspirational?

Francis Bacon. I always find myself staring at jpegs of The Screaming Pope. He does psychotic emotion very very well, so does George Condo. Both do portraits really well, you feel like you know the person your seeing on canvas… And they’re only dealing with one frame, yet somehow it cuts through. I just want to do that with film.

What are you listening to at the moment?

New SZA album, Billy Joel - The Stranger, Frank Ocean album, and stuff friends are working on. And a lot of podcasts.

What’s your favourite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?

I just got a Dji Osmo [below], very good for making quick references.

What artist(s) would you most like to work with and why?

Right now SZA + NAO just feel like they’re bringing new things to the table

How do you feel the promo industry has changed since you started in it?

People are making ‘mood films’ a lot more. longer pieces. that’s interesting. I still think we are missing something but can’t put my finger on it… yet.

Music videos have had a resurgence of late; where do you see the industry being in five years’ time?

I’m really not sure. people are in this game trying to pump out content for content’s sake and the danger is it doesn’t stick/do anything. You make something iconic that’s two-three minutes long.

I think good videos today aren’t just down to the video itself. It’s more about “was it a ‘moment’ when it was released?”. The measure of a good music video is kind of like the drums on James Brown’s Funky Drummer – will it be sampled and reused over and over again? Will it be screenshotted by future filmmakers and will people be sharing gifs of it when it’s out?