We last spoke to local hip-hop shooter Derick G. back in June when he had just leveraged his still image work into the world of moving pictures, in high definition.
Derick recently hit a new phase in his career when he gained unprecedented access to roll with Cash Money Records as a documentarian starting with Lil Wayne's 27th birthday and continuing with a European tour, and, from what he tells us, a recent trip to NYC.
Here's the story of how he did it from a recent phone interview.
New Times: How did you get to where you're doing this?
DG: Well, just from doing all the behind the scenes for music videos I already shot those dudes a million times. What happened recently though is I shot a picture of Baby and his daughter and he called me up and we sat down and talked and he ordered a bunch of prints.
Then later I got a call from him to come with my camera to the studio. It was Lil Wayne's birthday, where he gave him the million dollar watch.
He thought I was just shooting stills, he didn't know I did video. I showed him the video and he was real happy with everything. He was like "Yo, you got a passport? We goin' to Europe. Think about what you wanna charge me and let me know."
It's a cool feeling. I'm dealing with the guys that run the most successful independent label ever. Baby been doin it for 21 years. To be offered that opportunity was great.
NT: How was it being in Europe with Cash Money?
DG: It was definitely an experience, a lot of being on the road. You pretty much have to move into the bus. We flew into Amsterdam and out of Paris. Once we were in Europe it was all on the bus.
It was crazy to see the reaction on the street. People that don't even speak English know all the lyrics -- God even knows if they know what it means. And everywhere they go it's like nothing but love.
NT: How many shows did Wayne do?
DG: Let's see, we left on October 6 at midnight, one week, six days, five shows, three days consecutive, a day off, and then two shows. We were in Amsterdam, London, and Paris.
The show is always good energy, but different levels, I saw it five days in a row and it was good every time.
I was with Baby the whole time. I learned a lot from him. He's just like a big dog in his nature. He knows what he's doing, he's a very very confident person, he's a strong character to be around. You can learn a lot from him just being around his vibes, how to react or not react in different situations.
NT: What do you got planned for the future?
DG: Just building relationships. I would love to be a director, and make movies. I like documentaries, like Behind The Music -- I love that shit, I'm really into that. I'm also really big into history and shit
I'm one of these Discovery Channel geeks. I'm big on Planet Earth. Watch that series, it's crazy. There's just so much to learn out there.
The world is bigger than Miami. Don't get me wrong I love my city, but it's like there's a lot more too.
Find out more about Derick G. or to watch more movies, visit derickgblog.com or derickg.com
