NEW RELEASE: Juvenile "Rodeo"

Juvenile "Rodeo" (Atlantic)
Marc Klasfeld, director
Melissa Larsen, producer
Rockhard Films, production co
Robin Frank Management, rep
Michael Bernardo, DP
Rochard Alarcon, editor
Description: There are plenty of rap videos that exploit strippers. The uncensored  video for the Ludacris tune "P-Poppin" is one of the least safe for work examples. There are very few, however, that show the seedier side of the business. While Juvenile raps in some very big looking performance set-ups, director Marc Klasfeld trains the camera on real life strippers in Atlanta. While there are shots of the girls writhing on stage, most of the video spotlights the behind the scenes action. Most of it is often quite sad, whether it be a stripper counting her money outside a men's room or the woman who gets ready for her performance with a baby on her lap. As in most of his "serious" work, Klasfeld displays a true photographer's eye for capturing effective portraiture  set-ups and well composited shots.
    While "Rodeo" doesn't quite have the emotional resonance or complexity of director Jonas Akerlund's video for Metallica's "Turn The Page" — which featured former porn star Ginger Lynn as an adult industry worker who's past her prime and forced to compromise herself in order to provide for her daughter — Klasfeld and Juvenile treat these women as people, which is much more than can be said for most videos from this genre. -- Watch "Rodeo" in either Real or Windows Media (courtesy of juvenilerealitycheck.com)