Common's Makin' A Mini-Movie Music Video

[bigted]

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1507450/0...?headlines=true

"Common's Making His Own Mini-Movie For 'Testify'

08.11.2005 8:10 PM EDT

Rapper says he wrote song as if it were a movie.

Common (file)

Photo: Getty Images

On the heels of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" and Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends," Common is making a mini-movie of his own to accompany his next single, "Testify."

For the Chicago-spawned MC, it was an obvious move, since he wrote the song as if it were a movie.

"I was thinking 'The Usual Suspects' when I wrote it, where you believe the whole time that the character is doing something, but then you find out something different," Common said recently. "It's about a woman testifying for a man in court."

Anthony Mandler, coming off Snoop Dogg's "Ups & Downs/ Bang Out" clip, is directing the video, the follow-up to Be's "Go," which Kanye West helmed (see "Common Out To Show 'Conscious Cats Like Sex Too' In Kanye-Directed Clip") "[Kanye] may direct some more, but not this one," Common said.

The mini-movie, set in Chicago, opens in a police interrogation room, where a wife is being questioned about her husband's involvement in a murder/drug deal, according to the treatment. Later, it moves to a courtroom where the trial takes place and the music eventually kicks in.

Common plays a court reporter in the back of the room and raps some of the song from there and other parts from a nondescript location. As he tells the story, the action in the video follows suit. And, of course, the end provides a shocking twist.

"Not everything is what it appears to be is the moral of this story," Mandler wrote in his treatment. He's directing the clip this week in Los Angeles.

Common, meanwhile, has a few more dates left with John Legend, and plans for a fall tour with Common, Legend and their label head, West, are moving forward.

"We definitely gonna have a G.O.O.D. Music tour," Common said. "We been performing together [at occasional special events] and it feels good."

Although dates are still being scheduled, the three will definitely join forces for an MTV2 $2 Bill concert in Los Angeles on September 10.

Common will also attend the MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, where "Go" is a contender for Best Hip-Hop Video."

[MaxFly]

Testify is my favorite track on the album... or at least the one I listen to the most. Good times...

[JamesUK]

I hope he wins at the VMA'S.

He was awsome when i saw him live, plus he said he's gonna come back and do some more shows.

anybody that can get to one should go !! :davidblaine:

[Fresh-Ta-Def]

sounds good man thanks for the news homie

[JumpinJack AJ]

Very cool. It's good 2 see an emcee with talent doing something like this.

[Lhunagar]

well .. testify is my least favourite track from be .. but im looking forward to the video anyway .. sounds kinda cool ..

[bigted]

"Testify" is one of my favorites on "BE", that song has a lot of passion, I hope it's ranked high on the charts when it comes out and pushes the album to platinum status 'cause Common deserves it!