“This guy that’s winning the award this year, he’s one of those people who never gives up, he doesn’t stop…what he submitted was just absolutely amazing, it took us back in time.” Said Hip Hop Film Festival founder and director CR Capers before another hip hop icon, Jahan Nostra presented Ty Brueilly with the Best Music Video award for his directing, editing and cinematography work with the OC from NC & Jooselord song, ’95 Goodie Mob’ at the 11th annual Hip Hop Film Festival.
“I have a beautiful wife of ten years, a four-year-old and an eight-year-old…before my wife, before my kids, there was hip hop.” Brueilly said as part of his improv acceptance speech.
A glance into history can show us that he’s right. Married in 2015, his hip hop career reaches as far back as 2000 with some recordings that can be found if one digs deep enough, yet we know that’s not where the relationship started with him and hip hop.
“I heard a lot of soul growing up, but at nine years old I got a hold of a Biz Markie tape and fell in love with it. I was hooked immediately because the music was a blend of that soul I was used to and beats that were so uplifting and in 1990 Asheboro, North Carolina it was nearly impossible to find any rap or hip hop anywhere. But like anything that dives into your soul like that, you find a way to get it, but it wasn’t too much longer we started getting radio stations like 102 Jamz to really start spreading their wings and getting the music I loved onto the air, it was an exhilarating time, and at a pivotal age for me, watching and hearing all this while it was a brand new thing in my area. Heavy D & Chubb Rock quickly became my favorites.” Brueilly said.
The love since then has spread into a legendary and iconic career, eight critically acclaimed solo albums, over 1,000 songs recorded and over 2,000 performances on stage that included a dozen countries, but what he really focuses on now is filmmaking.
Brueilly explains, “I took a sharp left turn into filmmaking and camera work shortly after getting married. Music and film are also in a committed marriage, you can’t really have one without the other, especially in this day and age. I began filming experimental works of horror, silent but scored by my own music, and then one day a labelmate and dear friend of mine, Marshall Alexander asked about how interested I was in filming a music video for him for his song ‘Stick Around.’ I was hesitant, but I did it, storyboarded it with his lyrics and he was ok with me using my trademark black and white style and we went for it. That sparked something in me, but I was still have second thoughts like maybe that was just luck how I pulled that off, then another label mate, business partner and friend, Ed E. Ruger asked me the same, but he didn’t really want the black and white style, he wanted something else, which really put the pressure on me, but eventually I agreed and we did it, and I haven’t second guessed my music video work since then.”
Brueilly has won over 100 awards for his film works since 2016 and those works have been on the screens of the best cinemas in the world, his favorite being the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
“I am embedded in hip hop culture, and I’ve been that way for about 35 years. I am sensitive to its history and I am fully aware and appreciative for what it has provided me and so many other’s since it’s birth. I make sure with every bar I write that should be evident to the audience and every time I’m in the studio, everyone that’s in there knows the respect I have for that culture. I do the same when I am shooting a music video for someone else. I want to make sure the viewer sees most every word coming out of their mouth, because hip hop is so word heavy and powerful. I have a hard time watching music videos with such immaculate deliveries and punchlines, only to have the camera cut over to a street sign or a chick’s ass that takes away from what is so important about the culture and that is the lyrics, the swagger of the delivery and the landscape of the artists facial features as they are doing so.” Brueilly said.
When experiencing and watching any of the music videos Brueilly has done for others, all that is abundantly clear to the audience. His attention to details and composition are mind blowing and intense and give homage to the culture he is so passionate about.
Brueilly’s next music video screening will be the theatrical premiere of the ethemadassassin song ‘The Manual’ which will take place at the TCL Chinese Theatre’s in Hollywood on September 11, 2026.
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