From September 7th to October 20th I got to be a videographer for BET on the 1st all-hiphop BET tour for Columbus legends Fly Union. This post is simply to serve as a reflection on the ups, downs, and lessons learned along the way, considering the tour was too hectic to even understand the significance during the experience.
Right out of the gate, being asked to go on this tour was not only mindblowing, but an uncontrollable whirlwind. I had met Brian Chea and Jerreau, Jay Swifa, and Iyeball of Fly Union from previous work on their music video for their single off of The Greater Than Club “5000,” and they received word from TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment) management just 5 days before the tour began that they were to be the opening act. Mind you, at this point I was flat broke, just off editing a feature-length documentary for 2 months, low on gear, and chilling at my parents home in North Carolina. So when I was asked to do my dreamjob I made damn sure to get everything ready in a matter of 2 days to make sure I wouldn’t miss this potentially once in a lifetime opportunity. I left the house with a 5dMKII, 24-70mm, some batteries, cards, a small bag of clothes, and my laptop to go on this 30 city adventure.
Summarizing the experience in the most broad way possible, touring is not glamorous. Without the backing of a major label or an RV/bus, we traveled thousands of miles across the country with 4-5 people at any time in a Dodge Van following close behind the TDE gentlemen in their 8 bunk bus. When we didn’t double up in the beds of a motel, we slept in the van or crashed in the houses of our family and friends. The average commute between each city was over 7 hours, which meant either leaving the venue immediately after the performance to drive through the night, or leaving early in the morning to arrive at the next venue just in time to do sound check, eat, and hit the stage. While either Jerreau, Iyeball, or their road managers (Chea and Rodney) drove, Swifa would pump out beats on his Maschine in the back and I would log and edit the footage from the days previous. When their was even a little bit of time in the cities that we hit, by the time we found a spot to eat, to shop a little, and do some laundry, we either had to be available to conduct interviews, network with industry professionals, or simply be at the venue to perform. Every minor task required to make sure a tour was run smoothly, was conducted in house by 4 people, 5 when we were lucky enough to have Chea or Rodney around, and it constantly amazes me to realize that the 3 guys were able at the end of the day to put on a live show in each and every city. These dudes don’t even use a DJ, as Iyeball would prep the set either in the car or green room, run the actual show, and even do improvised beat-making on stage on his Ableton pad and Novation keyboard.
The challenges presented to us as an unit were seemingly insurmountable at times, and the word “struggle” quickly became the theme of many of the stops on the road. With the bare minimum of equipment and time, in addition to this being my first experience on the road, I quickly learned through victory and failure what it takes to be a successful road photographer, and it’s 3 very simple concepts:
1. Storyboarding
First off, storyboarding for a spontaneous documentary situation seems silly, but even just visualizing a story along a classic timeline is very important when commencing a video. While I could never guess what was going to happen, it is very easy to account for city, space, and characters at each stop and at least prepare for what is going to be the intro, the conflict, the climax, and the conclusion in the broadest sense. Even if I couldn’t get the dopest footy, I knew I could at least put a story together
2. Stay on top of the little shit
When you are constantly on the move, the little shit is what will cripple you. After a show, all I ever wanted to do was go to bed. But without making sure I was charging my laptop, phone, batteries, and emptying/logging/conforming my footage, I was only crippling myself for the next day (and the days quickly add up.) It was never guaranteed that we would have a dressing room, and while our car did have outlets, their were 4-5 people at any time that needed to use them as well. Not to mention simply hygiene and laundry when sharing hotel rooms. Opportunities for taking care of the little things are rare and only last for an instant.
3. Their is no off time
I learned this lesson the hard way after a particular shoot when I missed a crucial shot. The role of a documentary filmmaker is tough especially in the hip-hop world, where pretty much everything is spontaneous and conducted off-the-cuff. 95% of the time, absolutely nothing will be happening and the second you leave the assignment, that 5% of awesomeness strikes. This also means the line between simply living and working is completely obscured, so its very important to understand what is expected of you in regards to the assignment before entering into this world.
Amongst all the struggles and the lessons, the experience was arguably the best of my life and one that may never be replicated. This job was something I had always wanted, and somehow I managed to land among one of the most talented rosters in hip-hop history during their up-and coming strides. Fly Union has been grinding for years now and have established themselves a reputation for talent and quality in the hip hop realm, and are the most unique group I have ever witnessed, with an unbelievable array of talents and self-sufficiency that is severely lacking in hip-hop today (a strong ohio connect allowed me to party with Lebron James in DC by the way). And with Stalley on the tour, Ohio hip hop was a strong force on this national tour that has not been witnessed to such extent in some time ( it also afforded me the opportunity to meet Kellen Dengler, Stalley’s road videographer, whose worked I have looked up to for some time.) And of course, Kendrick Lamar has been the subject of attention with the anticipated release of good kid m.A.A.d. city and the widespread notion that he is the future of west coast hip hop, or in many people’s opinions the future of hip-hop as a whole. Throughout the tour, I got to meet the men behind the magic like Dave Free, Ret-One, MixedbyAli, and also watch Kendrick use his hip-hop clout to bring out acts like J-Cole, Drake, Schoolboy Q, Lupe Fiasco, Mannie Fresh, Tip, Dr. Dre, and Big Sean. However, nothing will ever top the energy I felt every night from sold-out crowds, crowds of completely mixed race, gender, age and background, bellowing out “Suck my Dick!” during The Spiteful Chant, or the roar of gunshots during his encore performance of Cartoons and Cereal.
Last week, in front of a sold-out Los Angeles crowd, with the backdrop of his Compton house and purple minivan, Kendrick Lamar brought out Dr. Dre to perform Compton to celebrate the release of his major label debut good kid m.A.A.d city. At this point in finally hit me, I am witnessing history, and for me my career is just beginning. I fell short in areas on this tour, but I am taking it all in stride and applying it to the next experience, which luckily for me, is working on the 2050 tour with Taylor Gang and with two videographers I look up to immensely in the industry, Bill and Frank Paladino. I’m pretty lucky for 22.
Check out the Fly U Vlogs I made on the journey here (the sixth installment releases this week)
Ted Cadillac 
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