J. Cole's "ATM" Director Breaks Down The Making Of The Video

BYAron A.Updated on September 26, 20225.2K Views

American hip-hop artist J. Cole performs at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on August 1, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

J. Cole's "ATM" video director Scott Lazer speaks on the inspiration behind the video.

J. Cole's released his latest album, K.O.D nearly two weeks a go and people have already dubbed it one of the best hip hop albums of the year so far. However, he's also released some stellar visuals for the project with both "ATM" and "Kevin's Heart." The rapper released the first video shortly after the release of the album and followed it with "Kevin's Heart" which featured Kevin Hart a few days later. The "ATM" video really stuck out to many for the creativity behind it and animated nature. His director, Scott Lazer, recently sat down and broke down some of the inspiration behind the video.

J. Cole's video for "ATM" drew inspiration from some iconic films in videos of the 90's. Cole previously revealed that Busta Rhymes video for "Gimme Some More" influenced some of the scenes of the video but Scott Lazer revealed there's much more to it than just that. Lazer was already excited when he first saw the album art to K.O.D which inspired the opening scene of "ATM."

Lazer explained that the scene of Cole counting money was inspired by Johnny Depp's character in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas as well as Busta Rhymes' "Gimme Some More" video.

Lazer also revealed the kiLL edward also inspired the name of the car lot where Cole plays the role of a car salesmen.

There's much more to the video than one can pick up off of the first glance. Scott Lazer breaks down each scene and even shares some insight on the certain cameras and angles they used to create the video. Peep his breakdown below.

About The Author

Aron A.

Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.