Bibi Bourelly - ＂Ballin＂

What this video is

Released February 8, 2017, 'Ballin' arrived as Bibi Bourelly — a Berlin-born, LA-transplant singer-songwriter signed to Def Jam — was transitioning from acclaimed hitwriter (Rihanna, Selena Gomez) to solo artist in her own right. The video crystallizes a mid-2010s cultural moment in which young Black independent artists were pushing back against label-prescribed visual spectacle in favor of self-financed,…

Why it matters

A key artifact of the mid-2010s alt-R&B/indie-soul movement's visual vernacular, 'Ballin' demonstrates the genre's rejection of conventional music video spectacle in favor of documentary realism. Its DIY production — self-funded by the artist against label pressure — positions it as a significant…

The director

Corey Wash (b. 1993, Baltimore, Maryland) is a multidisciplinary artist working across illustration, painting, photography, video, film, and art direction. She relocated to New York City in 2011, initially pursuing photography and modeling before expanding…