"Black music videos weren't played on MTV in the late 80s. So while I was still at Harvard, I'd make music videos in my head. One day, while listening to Bad Boy/Having a Party by Luther Vandross, I thought: This could be a great music video or movie. And I sat down that night and wrote a script for a short film that ended up not only being made but shown at festivals and becoming a big hit in the world of student films."
"The studio wanted Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Instead, I asked Kid 'n Play AKA Christopher Kid Reid and Christopher Play Martin to star. I loved their music videos, their style, their look. But I still had to convince New Line. They said: Who are these guys? I said: They've got platinum records. I had no idea if they did!"
Black music videos were rarely played on MTV in the late 1980s, so a Harvard student imagined music videos and wrote a short film after hearing Luther Vandross's 'Bad Boy/Having a Party.' The short was produced, screened at festivals, and became a major student-film success. New Line Cinema expanded the short into a feature; the filmmaker chose Kid 'n Play as leads despite the studio's preference for Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and convinced executives by citing the duo's record sales. The feature retained the short's world and characters, addressed safe sex discreetly, and captured a specific pre–gangsta-rap hip-hop era.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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