Premiere: Seth Dyer releases Adom Woods directed visuals for “Black Ghosts”

Toronto, ON – Nearly one year after writing “Black Ghosts,” Toronto artist Seth Dyer returns with a minimalistic Adom Woods directed video to accompany the record.

“Black Ghosts” released over the summer and serves as a record to bring awareness to the epidemic of innocent Blacks being murdered. Throughout the duration of the song, Seth repeats one question for his listeners: “Don’t I live in the same world as you?”

For this video, Seth and Adom connected thanks to an introduction through one of Seth’s friends. After linking to discuss potential video concepts, the two quickly decided to make this video come to fruition. The visuals maintain a simple, dark aesthetic as Seth puts the focus on his lyricism.

Check out the video premiere for “Black Ghosts” after the jump, and scope our Q&A with Seth.

Q&A: Seth Dyer

“Innocent people are still being killed and I had to bring more attention to this record and make it new again through this music video.”
– Seth Dyer

HipHopCanada: Start off by telling me about your vision for this video, and the story you wanted it to tell. I know this is one of the heaviest songs you’ve ever released.

Seth Dyer: I wanted the video to be very simple. I didn’t want people watching the video to focus on a story or another element that would distract from the initial message of the song. I feel like the lyrics are the most important element of the record and I think we did a good job of getting the message across.

HipHopCanada: How did you meet Adom and end up collaborating on this one? Tell me the story.

Seth Dyer: I met Adom through a friend that brought me to the studio I currently work at, G-Spot Studios in Toronto. I knew I wanted to shoot a video for “Black Ghosts” and other songs. But I was having a difficult time finding videographers that were talented, inventive and deliver high quality work. Adom embodies all three and he’s an effective worker as well. I didn’t have to chase him down for edits or anything he was incredibly timely. We spoke about the “Black Ghosts” idea in a tea shop and we executed the shoot soon after our initial meeting. I plan to work a lot more with Adom he really helped to get my idea across.

HipHopCanada: Talk to me about the significance of keeping this video so minimalistic, and sticking to the black aesthetic.

Seth Dyer: I’m a minimalist in general so I guess that attribute comes through in the video. I’m always wearing black so that aesthetic is a reflection of me. But the darkness also represents the somber situation that is the reality of police violence against Blacks in North America. The minimalism of the video is purposely done to bring more attention to the message within the lyrics.

HipHopCanada: If I’m not mistaken, you initially wrote this song back in February 2016. It’s been almost a year since you penned this song. Talk to me about how the track’s message resonates with you now in 2017.

Seth Dyer: This message still resonates with me after nearly a year because things have still not changed. Innocent people are still being killed and I had to bring more attention to this record and make it new again through this music video. Because the message is important to me.

HipHopCanada: When you first released this song, you said something that I found really poignant. You said that if this track was your only effort in raising awareness about injustice, you weren’t doing enough to foster change. So what other steps have you taken to create change in the world this year?

Seth Dyer: I’ve worked on helping people heal through gatherings and general conversation. I’ve also changed the way I spend my money. I think if we – as Black people – have better access to wealth we can do a lot to help ourselves. I’ve spent more of my money with Black businesses. When my music takes off on a larger scale and I have larger amounts of money coming in, I’d like to invest in Black business and Black entrepreneurs.