Featured: Kreayshawn

Video by AveryClifton

Photos By Jeanine Hauk and Valentin Saqueton

Interview by Jassmyn Fowlkes and Jeremiah McNair

Ontask: Who are you and what do you do?

Kreayshawn: My name is Natassia, but people know me as Kreayshawn. I do music videos and I’m getting into directing. I usually do everything from filming to directing to editing, but now I’m just trying to do directing. Pretty sweet.

Ontask: Why does everybody call you Kreayshawn?

Kreayshawn: I knew someone was gonna ask that. Yeah, people been like, why that fuck you call yourself Kreayshawn its not no nickname? I started to call myself Kreayshawn because it’s supposed to be like CRE-A-TION. People always think I’m trying to make some crazy ghetto name.

Ontask: Haha. How long have you been doing what you do?

Kreayshawn: I shot my first music video maybe about 8 months ago, but I’ve always been playing with cameras since I was young.

Ontask: How is school going at Berkeley film school?

Kreayshawn: Well, Berkeley film school is pretty sweet. Um, I got a full scholarship there, so I’ve just been rocking that. Tryna finish, I’m gonna graduate next may and move to L.A.

Ontask: That’s tight. Do you have any upcoming projects?

Kreayshawn: I just want to get more paid work; you know we all want that money.

Ontask: Don’t we all, don’t we all. Do you do any other type of artwork?

Kreayshawn: Yeah I’ve painted some things. I’m hella creative, I like doing anything. If I’m not filming or editing something, I’m usually drawing something. It’s like if you’re not doing one thing a day, then what are you doing?

Ontask: Well, you got that art school mentality!

Ontask: Where you from and all that?

Kreayshawn: Well, I’m from another planet. I was born in SF and I lived out there for 10 years then I moved to Oakland and I’ve been out here for 10 years. So you can say I’m super, super Bay Area.

Kreayshawn: Yeah probably, everybody out here is hella creative, but hella lazy. Very fuckin’ lazy. Anybody from the Bay and has some sort of talent is hella lazy. I feel like I’m lazy sometimes, but I guess I’m not.

Ontask: Not if you’re in here talking to us, you’re Ontask today.

Kreayshawn: I am Ontask today.

Ontask: Do you have any favorite directors?

Kreayshawn: No, not really. But uhh, I’ve been told not to, I don’t watch other music videos. I’ll watch other people, not my competition, but people on the same level as me, fucking with the same people. But other than that, I don’t really like watching music videos… plus I don’t have cable.

Ontask: So basically, you’re just trying to be a director?

Kreayshawn: Yeah, I did my first video shoot two days ago where I wasn’t filming but telling them how I wanted my angles and all that. I liked it, but yeah, I need to work on being more assertive like “No, do it this way.”

Ontask: What’s your favorite color?

Kreayshawn: Well right now, it’s pink. I used to hate pink and then one day I just decided to love it, now I overly love it.

Ontask: What kind of music have you been playing a lot?

Kreayshawn: Like all sorts of weird music. I just met Flying Lotus and he was hella tight. I listen to yeah, Flying Lotus, Boys of Canada, Prefuse 73, and Lil’ B. Any genre of music that has a dance, I basically like.

Ontask: So what are your influences?

Kreayshawn: It’s gonna have to be Hello Kitty, starting off small then taking over anything from Hello Kitty soap and Hello Kitty beer. Naw, just playing. I can’t really think of anybody that I look for inspiration. Oh yeah, no, Hype Williams. My goal is to bring back the whole Hype Williams – 90’s – Missy Elliot kind of music videos back. Like the crazy shit. The budgets for music videos have gone down so much. It used to be like a million dollars, now they cut it back and videos are hella basic.

Ontask: How you plan on changing all that?

Kreayshawn: I just gotta keep pushing and have people trust my vision, find the right crew, which is hard.

Ontask: Side notes?

Kreayshawn: Fuck them hos.

Ontask: So did you think you were gonna be this big?

Kreayshawn: Naw. My first video was really bad but it was pretty good for my first music video. I basically started doing party videos on cheap ass point and shoots. Then I started editing them together with Diplo mixes, stuff like that. What happened was, on his blog, every Sunday he does fan videos and he picked MY video. He posted one up there and I was like damn, if he can recognize I’m doing something, then anybody can recognize my talent. After that day, I bought myself a Canon xl1.

Ontask: So how do you take criticism, like when people come at your neck?

Kreayshawn: Well I’ve had people say some things, I just be like, whatever.

Ontask: You Ustreaming yet?

Kreayshawn: Yeah I’m on Ustream.

Ontask: Can you explain the video that was on World Star Hip-Hop of your sister rapping and free styling?

Kreayshawn: Oh that video, I wish my sister was here right now. Well yeah basically I just got my canon 7d and it was the first video I ever did on it. It was one of those things that just happened. She was freestyling with the wig and I was like take the wig off and she was like yeah. But yeah that’s how she is normally and like it got a lot of controversy, ‘cause of like .. yeah, you know. I don’t even wanna speak on that, I don’t really have an opinion, I was just filming it. But yeah, that video was crazy, that video was on WSHH. I check world star every morning and then I saw it and I was like.. what. I guess someone on Ustream was watching us and I guess they just posted it on WSHH. You guys ever play Chatroulette?

Ontask: Ohh yeaah, that is disturbing. We’ve seen some thaangs. You meet a new person and it’s a d.. and I’m like oh my gosh what is he doing? Ahah.

Kreayshawn: Chatroulette is nasty, it’s fun though.

Ontask: Anything else?

Kreayshawn: I like to smoke hella weed a lot!

Ontask: Well uhh, that concludes our On Task discussion. You got any shoutouts?

Kreayshawn: Oh yeah, I can shout out some people. My sisters, Jordan and Vanessa and I can shout out Lil’ B and DB the General. Those are my favorite people I filmed, very exciting people and very positive.

CUT.

Find her at:
www.youtube.com/kreayshawn
twitter.com/kreayshawn