Big Sean - One Man Can Change The World ft. Kanye West, John Legend

What this video is

Released on June 19, 2015 — Juneteenth — just 48 hours after the racially motivated massacre at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, this video arrived at a moment of acute national grief and racial reckoning. Its Detroit setting anchors it in the post-industrial Black American heartland, and its monochrome palette strips away commercial glamour in favor of documentary witness.…

Why it matters

Represents a pivotal moment in 2010s mainstream hip-hop's turn toward socially conscious visual storytelling. By eschewing celebrity cameos from featured artists Kanye West and John Legend, foregrounding community figures, and deploying an austere monochrome documentary aesthetic, the video…

The director

Grammy-nominated Canadian director Andy Hines holds a Master's degree in directing from The American Film Institute (2009). Son of nature photographer Sherman Hines, he grew up in Nova Scotia. He has directed music videos for Logic, Lizzo, Alicia Keys, Keith…