How RT! and Didier Tovel Brought DJ Khaled’s Music Video to Life
What happens when you take some of the biggest names in rap and throw them into a music video? You end up with the extended cut for ‘Staying Alive’ - one of DJ Khaled’s latest hits - which features Lil Baby and Drake. Directed by RT!, the eight-minute extended cut is effectively a mini movie, and features scoring, sound design and mixing from Didier Tovel and his team at SNDWRx.
Riffing on the idea of DJ Khaled running the ‘Khaled Khaled Hospital for Nonbelievers’, the project was intentionally designed to start like an episode of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, before turning into the story of the world’s greatest rockstar surgeon (‘Dr. D.A. Jones’ - played by Lil Baby) showing up to help Drake and DJ Khaled in an emergency. The extended music video features the song itself, as well as multiple comedic moments including a full-length set of credits fit with a blooper reel, and even the use of one of Didier’s original beats. And, since its release on August 5th, the video has received over 3.5 million views on Youtube alone.
Didier and RT! sat down with LBB’s Josh Neufeldt to speak about how this project was brought to life.
LBB> What was the brief for this project like? What immediate ideas came to mind when you first saw it?
RT!> There was no brief for this project, but Drake had a funny idea about Lil Baby being a world renowned surgeon, and so I just jumped off from there. The idea for the video was to start off like an episode of ‘Grey's Anatomy’, before suddenly changing into this legend about the greatest rockstar surgeon in the world - ‘Dr. D.A. Jones’ (AKA Lil Baby) - coming to help Drake and DJ Khaled in an emergency. Once we knew a comedic approach was what we wanted, we were able to add ideas like the ‘Khaled Khaled Hospital’ for those who don't believe, which also served as a kind of a tribute to the frontline workers.
Didier> My favourite briefs are simple ideas that can be described in one sentence. What they told me is that they’d need some score and sound design for a drama-style spoof - wherein Drake is a doctor at DJ Khaled’s hospital, and a surgery needs to happen where the only person on the planet who can perform it, is of course, Lil Baby.
LBB> As directors, how would you describe your styles? And how did you go about making sure they were reflected in the film?
RT!> In general, I really try to bring a cinematic flavour to the video. I want to make people feel like they're watching a movie through shot selection, lighting and production design, and really treat it like a blockbuster movie.
Didier> We take style and authenticity a little too seriously. We really study how something is made, why it feels the way it does, and always make sure that what we create is legit, even if it’s a spoof or comedy. It’s important that we bring validity, so when we’re working on scores where it should sound like ‘ER’ or ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, we make sure the result isn’t slapstick, but accurate, believable and well-crafted.
LBB> What was the process of working together like? Did you see eye to eye on everything throughout the entire project?
RT!> Working with Didier was great, and we definitely saw eye to eye. He actually reminded me that we worked together long ago, back when I had a music video company, the N.E. (shout out to my boy, John Nadalin). But honestly, this project was old hat. Didier’s got great sensibilities, and the team at SNDWRx really elevated it and made it feel like a cinematic experience with the SFX and some of the music that we put in. It was a great and quick collaboration.
Didier> RT! is a professional. He knew exactly what he wanted, was collaborative, and gave us space to do what we do best. The session with him was quite quick and to the point, and then he left us to do our thing. We’d worked together a long time ago, and so there was a mutual trust there which saw the project get done in record time.
LBB> The film is a music video that’s intertwined with elements of speech and short film. How did this influence the ways you guys approached directing and sound, if at all?
RT!> You’ve got DJ Khaled, a legend in the game, you’ve got the biggest artist in the world with Drake, and you’ve got Lil Baby, who everyone is saying is next up. Because we had three superstars, we wanted to do something that would be larger than life. My goal with this video was to sort of bring it back to the old school (late ‘90s, early 2000s style), back when videos were real productions and felt like events. We wanted it to feel bigger than the stuff we sometimes see these days.
Didier> We treated this more like a mini-movie than anything else. I thought it was really cool how the music video featured so many skits, and granted us so many opportunities to showcase how music and sound impact a scene. The deadlines and tasks were challenging, but that’s something we’re used to, having worked on ‘SickKids VS’, the ‘No Frills Album’, and plenty of other projects where there have been overnights and ever-changing asks. I wouldn’t change anything about our process; it just validates how our small team goes about handling big projects.
LBB> Tell us about the idea for the ‘Khaled Khaled Hospital’. Was that an idea of yours, or did it come from DJ Khaled? And given that it’s not a real place, where did you shoot, and how did you go about capturing it?
RT!> The idea for the ‘Khaled Khaled Hospital’ was something that totally came from DJ Khaled and Drake. Those guys are world class creatives, so it was just a lot of fun.
In terms of how we created it, we obviously couldn't shut down an actual hospital, so instead we shot at York University’s Glendon Hall Campus. I sent out the kind of aesthetic I was looking for, and once my production designer and producer saw the location, we realised it was actually really perfect. It was sleek, modern, and had this really clean feel, which our production designer (Noelle Hindi) was able to use as a starting point. From there, she just knocked it out of the park - bringing in a lot of hospital elements to set the stage in a great way.
There was also our costume designer, my homie from time Caitlin Wright, who really came through: choosing some beautiful tones for the scrubs of the various doctors and nurses. Those choices added that touch of the visual colour-blocking, which offset the sleek, white space really nicely. And to get that outdoor shot of the hospital which you see at the beginning of the video, we were fortunate to have great CGI work from our VFX team at CameoVFX. Overall, it was an all-star collaboration between all the departments to bring Glendon Hall to life and turn it into the ‘Khaled Khaled Hospital For Nonbelievers’.
LBB> Whether they’re doctors, non-believers or partiers, the actors add a lot of depth to the video. What was the casting process like? What were you looking for?
RT!> The casting process was quite extensive. We went to modelling agencies, acting agencies and Instagram. We cast the net wide on this, because not only did we need really beautiful talent to populate our hospital, but then we really wanted to sell the concept of one of those extra dramatic, primetime hospital shows.
Another thing that was very important to me (and something I always try to do) was creating a very diverse, multicultural cast. If you go to a hospital, you’ll see people of differing cultures, and we really wanted to show that off. But as you can see, we had a huge cast. It was a beautiful thing to see everybody have fun and do their thing.
LBB> SNDWRx did the score, sound design and mix for the video, which is a lot of things to handle. What was the process like? And how did you go about turning concepts into a final product?
Didier> The process was very collaborative. We essentially took the video away for about 24 hours and came back with a fully scored piece that everyone enjoyed. We made our portion of the project as simple as possible, for everyone else. One of the most interesting parts of the project was for the victory scene - when Lil Baby completes the operation. The label wanted to feature one of their songs, but the director and production wanted to play up the comedy, so we had to quickly show the label how it could work. At the time, I was sitting in the studio with RT!, and I took out one of my disco tracks, placed it up to the cut and he loved it. As it turned out, the label and artists did too, and this complicated problem was solved quite simply in favour of the creatives.
Other than that, the overnights, new versions to create and unforeseen changes to the video threw us for a bit of a loop, but thanks to our team here, we were able to take shifts and get it all done - without skipping a beat or being rude pricks.
LBB> Where did you look for inspiration for the sound design and effects of the hospital? It really evokes the sense that the viewer is watching a hospital drama. And on a technical level, how did you record and capture these sounds?
Didier> The inspiration was the result of every single soap opera, dramatic TV show and documentary being burned into my mind with nowhere else to go but into the music. I’ve also worked on a lot of projects for SickKids over the years - both from inside and outside of the hospital - so hospital ambiences are kind of my thing it would seem. From there, we assembled our team and got to making the music. I was in LA on a job at the time, and worked collaboratively with my team back in Toronto to make it all come to life.
LBB> How long did it take to complete all the audio-based requirements for the project? Was there a particular step that took longer than the others? And if so, why?
Didier> Most of the video was scored and mixed within the first day or two, but compared to commercials, let’s just say the approval process is a lot more fluid and so things change very quickly. Many of the bones of the project stayed the same, but we just had to rearrange those bones many many times. But that’s how it goes!
LBB> One of the funniest scenes is the ‘How do you spell Canada’ bit. What was the thought process behind writing that part, and what filmmaking techniques did you use to capture it?
RT!> We knew that we were going to do something that had ‘Dr. Drake’ examining some patients, but the whole speech was brainstormed by Drake and DJ Khaled. These guys just stepped aside for 10 to 15 minutes and brainstormed out that whole sketch. It was just awesome just to see. I could have watched them do that for 20 takes - it was that much fun.
LBB> Adding a credit reel with bloopers over top was a fun way to close out the video. What led to this idea, and were there any bloopers you found funny which didn’t make the cut?
RT!> The set was one of the most fun sets I've had in my career. It was just good vibes and good people. So we thought it'd be a good idea to just show how much fun we were having on set, and decided it'd be fun to bring people into that process.
LBB> How long was the production process in total? And what was the edit and post production process like?
RT!> We shot for about 22 hours. And before that, it was about two and a half weeks of pre-production.
However, in post, this was one of the fastest cuts I've ever done. We cut it in under a week's time! I've been around the music video scene for a little bit, so I know how to shoot what I need and put my best pieces together to make something beautiful. Shoutout to my cutter (Nick Yumul) for the exceptionally fast work. You’re a beast bro!
LBB> Is there a specific part of this project of which you are particularly proud? And why?
RT!> I really liked the intro - the whole ‘Grey's Anatomy’ into the legend of Lil Baby. I think that's a really fun way to start the video, and we just had a great time making it. Lil Baby was such a pro. He just came in and knocked out a bunch of stuff. He was really focused on getting into character and being this surgeon, so it was a lot of fun. It's one of the funniest parts of the video, in my opinion.
Didier> I might be biassed, but the use of my disco beat in the music video. I love the track that comes in when they celebrate, and it was really cool having it be featured in this way. And on top of that, people in the comments were asking why Drake and Lil Baby didn’t rap on that one instead.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
RT!> The main challenge was just the time it took to execute the video. We had to create a whole hospital and shoot everything within 22 hours, before the place opened up again. But that's the difficulty of being a director; time is always every director’s worst enemy. However, the Fela production team and really everybody came through with their A-game, and just knocked it out.
Didier> Lack of sleep was overcome with coffee, excitement, and a great team that was down for whatever came.
LBB> Do you have a favourite scene from the video, and why?
RT!> Aside from the opening, I’d say the ambulance performance with all three of the guys. It felt like some old school ‘Diddy-Hype Williams’ type of setup, so I was really happy to capture something like that with these three amazing performers.
I also liked the DJ Khaled inspirational speech in the middle of the extended cut video. I love how you see him saying how special doctors and nurses are, and to me, it’s really important. There are actual people working in hospitals to save lives - and the past few years have been especially tough for them - so it was beautiful to pay tribute to them like that, and even make the music video a low-key tribute to them.
Didier> Definitely the celebration scene. It’s just so ridiculous and I feel as though we should normalise popping bottles when an operation is successful.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to add?
Didier> I want to thank the Fela TV family for getting us on this one, as well as Nick Yumul for editing this masterpiece. It was a team effort, and we’re really proud to have done what we do best.
