Ro James - Already Knew That

What this video is

Released June 2016 alongside Ro James's debut major-label LP ELDORADO (ByStorm Entertainment/RCA Records), this video arrives at a high-water mark for neo-soul's commercial crossover. The mid-2010s saw artists like D'Angelo, Frank Ocean, and Miguel rehabilitate slow-jam intimacy as a counterweight to EDM-pop dominance. Calmatic's direction channels the Los Angeles Black creative social scene — intimate house…

Why it matters

Represents a key visual document of mid-2010s neo-soul R&B's aesthetic vocabulary: warm tungsten lighting, social-gathering narrative, fast-cut vérité editing, and deliberate anti-gloss production design. The video helped position Ro James as a torchbearer for classic soul sensibility in the…

The director

Calmatic (born Charles Kidd II, September 25, 1987) is a self-taught American filmmaker raised in South Central Los Angeles. He began his career shooting guerrilla-style hip-hop videos in the LA underground circa 2010, collaborating with future stars…