Gym Bros Get a Grime Workout in Music Video Directed by Bailey Tom Bailey

Rappers Nerve and Songer have teamed up with grime legend D Double E for their new song, ‘TONKZ’, and its music video, directed Bailey Tom Bailey – repped by Ballistic@Great Guns.

Shot in just a day, the promo plays off the slang meaning of ‘tonk’, denoting a person with well-developed muscles. In a sweaty gym setting, it sees Nerve and Song working out while D Double E does the rounds as a pestering personal trainer. Iconic moments include a tracksuit-clad D Double E being pushed up and down on a leg press – and a projectile ending.

With a simple brief for a video in a bodybuilding gym, director Bailey Tom Bailey felt the macho set brimming with comedy potential to complement the in-your-face, humorous track. Taking inspiration from irritating personal trainers who love to shout but do little themselves, he cast D Double E in the pivotal role. Bailey then gave structure to the concept by dividing the video into sections by lyrics and rhythm before thorough storyboarding. To push the concept to its most absurd for the finale, Bailey recalled videos of powerlifters who, at the peak of their extension, end up vomiting into the crowd, imagining D Double E pushing a client too far and hastening that messy conclusion.

When it came to location scouting, the team dodged the red tape of a gym chain by opting for the independent TNT Gym in Songer’s hometown of Reading. The packed gym’s fresh paint job established a bold red and grey colour scheme against which the trio of artists’ gym wear pops for a gritty yet vibrant aesthetic. The cinematography provides the finishing touches: short sharp movements and cuts bring out the bold energy and humour of the ‘TONKZ’ track.

Bailey Tom Bailey comments: “I’m a natural storyteller and I’ve found comedy to be a mode that can contain my diverse ideas. I want to create things that are fun, surreal with a subversive or transgressive edge. Aesthetically, I try to create a world and visual language for each project, which I find naturally evolves from the idea. Often my work achieved colour cohesion through removing colour, so I was keen to create a look both dramatic and high contrast while still remaining colourful. The colour scheme was dominated by reds in the location already so it was natural to reflect this in the wardrobe.”