Slick Naim Talks Videos for ‘In The Vault’ and ‘Scary Slope’
Algerian-American hip-hop artist Slick Naim wants it all, has it all, and does it all. Representing Brooklyn, NY, Naim is not only an award-winning rapper, producer, and R&B artist. He’s also an Emmy-nominated writer, director, actor, and TV/film producer—because why not? With four albums, 15 music videos, and over 70 songs, he’s garnered millions of listens, views, and followers who loyally imbibe his vulnerable, contagious spirit of hustle. His most recent album, 2022’s In The Vault, displays an emcee at the apex of his craft—though probably just a false summit for this man who only goes upward.
The title track off the aforesaid album, Slick Naim’s “In The Vault” is a finessed flex track. Boasting about all the ideas and even finished tracks stashed in the vault, Slick casually dismisses doubters while building anticipation for his followers. The beat (produced by Krissio) is as scathing and confident as the lyrics—ripe for live performances that will surely elicit gratuitous “oooh” s from the audience after each ice-cold line on the track.
For a look into Naim’s other artistic talents and passions, dive into the Mad-Max-inspired music video for “In The Vault.” The expertly shot and edited mini-film makes literal Slick’s savage laying to waste of doubters and haters. Out in a relentless desert landscape, he and his wife (director Reema Naim) stave off posers trying to poach his throne.
Fulfilling his word that he’s always got more quality content stashed in his vault, Naim’s throwing in a bonus video for the kids. Set to another killer track off of In the Vault, the music video for “Scary Slope” is an intimate look into the mind of such a prodigious creative. Over a solemn, slapping beat, Naim pours his heart out to the camera, sharing the struggles of balancing so many interests and accomplishments. Once again directed by his wife Reema, this video features intimate shots of Slick surrounded by the city lights he grew up on. Take notes, kiddos. And put on some sunglasses for the ascent of this star.
Slick Naim weighed in for The Hype Magazine on the new music and videos
You boast very “movie-like” visuals in the video for your song “In the Vault”. What was your thought process behind making them?
So, naturally, I’m a director, right? I’m a filmmaker, the director of film and television, so I want my music and my visuals to also incorporate the other side of the talent that I have of directing anytime I put out a visual that has been motivated by a movie theme, or that I feel like has cinema quality – because I can’t say that I have that all my videos are gonna have some type of movie-like element because it’s just not affordable, you know. It’s also creatively just exhausting if you’re trying to make every video a movie, but there are some songs that just naturally lend themselves to that, and “In the Vault” had that energy of a car chase, and I wanted to make that car chase have Mad Max elements, like in the desert, like have crazy-talking people, crazy-looking people chasing us, and that’s where the thought process was behind “In the Vault.”
How did you use your previous experience of directing and producing to make this video?
That’s always extremely helpful because I have a producing mentality and have been able to experience producing, directing, and writing on movies and TV shows. You take that scene thought process and you apply it to music videos – even though for me it started in music videos. I started making music videos and then went into film and TV, so the previous experience is always extremely helpful. I feel pretty well-seasoned in that aspect and always like doing it for a good price.
How important do you think it is to have a compelling music video? How did you make sure to hook viewers with these two videos?
I think it’s very important to have a compelling music video because there’s so many out there, you have to skim the fat off the milk; I feel like the cream rises, right, so there’s something that has to be different about it, just like the music in itself. Your song can’t sound like everything else unless you’re just trying to emulate a certain artist or a time in music, but that to me doesn’t have longevity in a music career, so for me it’s always got to be compelling. How do I hook the viewers – you know, hooking the viewers, it all starts with the music. So, if I can’t hook the viewers with the music, then I’m losing. But this, I wanted to hook the viewers with a kind of an action-packed music video for “In the Vault”, and “Scary Slope” is just more of a personal, introspective record that I shot at night at my house.
In your track “Scary Slope”, you talk about juggling two careers. What has been the hardest part about doing this?
I’d say the hardest part about juggling two careers is time management, right? Well, how much time can you put into one career versus how much time can you put in the other, versus how much time you put in your personal life as well; all of that is a delicate balance that can take a lot of time in itself to figure out. It’s gonna be a trial-and-error process throughout years, where you can find a good balance, but for me the hardest part about doing that is managing the time. It’s a work in progress because there will be times where I’m working on a script and I just get artistically exhausted and then I’ll go into a song which is a completely different compartment in my brain. I’ll start writing to a song until I get exhausted from that, then I can go back to the script, so I can oscillate between those two.
In today’s world, there are a lot of musicians who branch into the television and film industry. Are there any of those artists that you look up to?
I mean, Tupac did it, he was one of the first to do it but I was always a fan of his, not only his music but his demeanor and his business acumen and artistic versatility to go from rapping to acting to writing, he did that very well, so I feel like he set it off for me. Another artist I look up to, I think Childish Gambino is amazing the way he can act and direct and write and rap as well. I think he is amazing.
We saw that your wife, Reema Naim, directed the video for both “In the Vault” and “Scary Slope”. What is it like creating large projects with your significant other?
My wife always wanted to be a music video director but with her Arab background she wasn’t allowed to, so she had to go into the medical field, but now that she’s married me, she’s able to live out that dream, which is a beautiful thing because it also saves us money. And saves us trying to find a good director.
Both of these songs have very different vibes to them. How do these tracks show the duality of your artistry?
I think the answer is within that question. Right? They are so different from one another, both of those songs are so different. One is this high-octane, propulsive, high-performance kind of track, and the other one is this is this more intimate, introspective record that I feel is more relatable, and it’s more vulnerable, and the other one is just more fun.
Have you learned anything from working in the film and TV industry that has helped your music career?
I would say it’s the opposite way around – I’ve learned so much in music. Because I started doing music, I learned so much shooting music videos and writing music videos that directing music videos of my own gave me a leg up into TV and film. Also editing – I was editing my music videos as well and that was a major advantage. When you have directed, edited, produced, and written the ideas of your music videos, going into TV and film you already have a leg up because you’ve done all those roles, but in music video format now, you have to bring it to live action with dialogue and actors, and how you talk to people is also a big asset as well.
It’s clear what you wanted the main message to be for both of these tracks. Why do you find it important to have a message with every song you make?
Just adds so much more importance and value to the record. And that’s the same thing with movies and TV too, right? I wanna pick projects that are just straight up fun, and then I wanna pick projects that have a message behind them that inspire people, right? That’s why we’re here to inspire people, and music is a beautiful opportunity to do that. So if I have a success story where I started from the bottom and made it to A-A high level but still have a bunch of goals to make, I’m LIVING proof that dreams are possible, so of course it’d be silly if I didn’t put those kind of messages in my music.
What do we have to look forward to next? As a jack of all trades, do you have any future endeavors planned?
So next I have another album coming out called Excuses and then I’ve been working on more music after that album, so we’ll have another album ready to not too far after that. I’m looking forward to more live shows, I have a nice solid hour set with visuals and stories to tell and music and obviously some music that I’m very excited to take to more cities. The overall goal is to be able to tour musically, to tour performing my music while I have a movie or TV show out, so I can promote both of them with my music.
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About the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
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