Nottinghill born and bred Dexter Navy has shot music videos for everyone from Jamie Isaac to A$AP Rocky, and Only Real to Skepta. His videography obsession came after watching Kanye’s visuals for Flashing Lights - a video that revels in simplicity but remains cinematic through slow tracking shots of the main woman.
Since Navy uploaded his first pictures to Tumblr, the Londoner has become one of Britain’s most sought after photographers /videographers. Lookbooks for Billionaire Boys Club, Editorials for 10 magazine and Director credits on Praise The Lord (Da Shine), which was easily 2018’s best music video, accentuates a saviness to Dexter’s work that has become appreciated by the most prestigious of tastemakers.
He credits 1995’s La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz’s classic French noir, as one of his primary influences. You can make many distinctive parallels to the urban realism and youth culture depicted in the movie with much of Navy’s work. A$AP Mob's short film 'Money Man', which Navy co-directed, is inherently inspired by the movie. The 12 minute long video sees Rocky, AWGE and many others prancing around North-West London, glamourising the idea of using guns and being involved in the drugs trade.
Dexter's work has influenced many of the shoots and videos we have put out previously, so it was only a matter of time before we spotlighted some of our favourite pieces from him. Below are five videos that will ease you nicely into his world.
A.CHAL & A$AP NAST - CUANTO VIDEO
Peruvian wordsmith A.CHAL hooked up with A$AP Nast in 2018 for a devilish trap single. As dexterous as the track is, for us, it was Navy's visuals that really set the bar in terms of creativity.
A$AP ROCKY & SKEPTA - PRAISE THE LORD (DA SHINE)
Not a lot needs to be said about Rocky and Skepta's Praise the Lord. Its hallucinogenic nature is testament to the state both artists made the track, and Dexter Navy masterfully displays its tone through the visuals. Cutting between North London and Harlem, displaying clear similarities between each area, the video depicts estate living in the most glamorous of manners.
JAMIE ISAAC FT REJJIE SNOW - LAST DRIP
Isaac and Snow's woozy link up went under the radar of many back in 2016. Sitting on a mere 188,000 views to date, the single didn't garner the attention it and the music video deserved. You can see the wavy inflections Navy incorporates into later projects really starting to blossom here. Personally, it's my favourite of the five.
DEXTER NAVY FOR MAINS LONDON
Skepta was, and in many ways still is, front centre of Britain's burgeoning fashion scene. His Mains line started with a collection of breezy, smart tracksuits and Nottinghill native Dexter Navy shot a video and lookbook to coincide with its release.
DEXTER NAVY FOR VIRGIL ABLOH
Vividly depicting Virgil Abloh's non-stop lifestyle, Navy made this video as an advert for suitcase brand RIMOWA. The aesthetic cements a slightly more utopian outlook on air travel, but in doing so, romanticises it, and makes us really want to jet off somewhere -as difficult as this is right now.
Words: @liam_cattermole
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