Rhyming to the Beat of Innovation: How Blackmagic Design Helped Hip-Hop Group ‘BAD HOP’ Elevate Their Visual Game

According to Blackmagic Design, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K was used to shoot a music video for hip-hop group BAD HOP. The music video was directed by Spikey John, who is part of the creative group GROUNDRIDDIM and has worked on music videos for numerous artists, and was shot by Haruya Uehara.

BAD HOP is an 8-member hip hop group based in Kawasaki. “KAWASAKI SONG feat. DJ TY-KOH, Bark, T-Pablow, Benjazzy, JJJ, BIM&A-THUG” is a song included in the group’s last album released in February 2024. The music video for the song was the last music video of the group, which was sadly disbanded, and can be said to be the culmination of the group’s work.

The director of this work was Spikey John of GROUNDRIDDIM, a creative group that brings together musicians, artists, and creators. He started producing music videos when he was a teenager, and has directed videos for many hip-hop artists, as well as being trusted by major artists such as Kaze Fujii and BUMP OF CHICKEN.

Spikey commented:

Mr. Spikey: I couldn’t keep up with class in high school, so I would skip class and play with friends who were similar to me. Smartphones were just around the time when smartphones came out, and I thought I’d take some pictures and have some fun with my free time, so I started making videos. This is the trigger.

It was super fun to improvise a story, have everyone fight or do something funny, then edit it and show it to my classmates to make them laugh.

Spikey is supported by GROUNDRIDDIM cinematographer/photographer Haruya Uehara. He shoots a wide range of projects, including portraits of popular artists, music videos, and promotional videos for brands.

Mr. Uehara: I’ve been doing photography since I was a child, and I happened to meet Spikey when I was 20 through a connection with a rapper I knew. It felt like work was an extension of my playtime, so I was invited to take pictures, and as I helped out, I was given a camera and started taking pictures.

The two had previously worked with BAD HOP. This “Kawasaki Song” was BAD HOP’s last music video, so it was a memorable work for Spikey and Uehara.

Mr. Spikey: BAD HOP just told me to take pictures on the streets of Kawasaki, so there was no detailed coordination, so it was difficult! I thought. If you want to take photos in a natural way on the street, wouldn’t it be you guys? I think that’s how he left it to me.

Mr. Uehara: I wanted to film a variety of Kawasaki scenes like a documentary, so I used a mix of different cameras, including 8mm film and MiniDV. For the main camera, I wanted to differentiate it from other cameras, so I decided to use a Blackmagic full-sensor camera.

Mr. Uehara chose the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K after considering mobility and size.

Mr. Uehara: I often use a gimbal for camera work, so when shooting where mobility is important, it is important whether the camera can be mounted on the Ronin S.

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K has a larger monitor and higher brightness, and since it has a vari-angle, it’s easier to see when it’s at a low angle because the monitor faces upwards. The best thing about using it is that you can use it with just the camera without having to attach a monitor to the gimbal.

Grading was done by colorist Ben Conkey using DaVinci Resolve Studio.

Mr. Uehara: I try to ask a colorist whenever I can. We’ve worked with Ben many times and he often creates looks we never imagined. This time as well, I was left to work on it, and I made some fine adjustments from there, but it ended up looking good from the beginning.

When I don’t have a lot of budget, I use DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel to grade it myself. For this music video, I created the LUT used during filming using DaVinci Resolve and imported it into Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K.

Finally, the two made the following comments about the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K:

Mr. Uehara: Images taken with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K have a punch. I thought that the fact that it had depth and wasn’t flat even in wide shots was a good match for shooting rappers and street shots.

Mr. Spikey: I don’t know the technical details, but I get the impression that it shows the image quality, or that it makes rappers and musicians look great. I would like to continue using it in the future.