I was always a big fan of hip-hop and already owned several albums by The Roots, but it wasn’t until the first time I got to see them perform live did I fully realize their ultimate appeal. During their concert in 1998, I noted that some of the members of The Roots were wearing t-shirts with “okayplayer.com” printed across in a clean bold typeface. Intrigued, I logged into this website and discovered what is an information hub for all things related to The Roots and other affiliated artists like D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Common amongst many more. Founded by Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, the website made it possible for music fans to interact with artists and each other by means of a message board. After casually visiting okayplayer.com over a period of a year or so, some of my work caught the eye of then-okayplayer documentarian and video director Brian “B.Kyle” Atkins. He contacted me one night randomly via instant message, when I arrived home half-sober, and explained who he was and what he was working on. After briefing me on his projects, he asked me if I would participate on helping him in collaboration with ?uestlove in the creation of a video project for The Roots, titled “Roots TV II: The DVD”. The documentary took about a year to complete and my involvement included conception and design of DVD packaging, promotional materials and visual elements and transitions that were used in the actual video. The documentary project was completed in 2003 and a lot of things happened since then in my personal and professional life. Still, to this day, this is a very important milestone for myself personally because it was mostly a labor of love. I continued to work with Brian throughout the years, as well as working on my own venture and being a part of the creative team that is now Heavy. I branched out into many different realms of visual design, working with a wide range of clients, from Fortune 500 heavyweights and entertainment giants to local businesses. But this documentary has it’s own special place because, in a way, it was a stepping stone. It allowed me to realize how far one can go if they believe that they can recognize and grab an opportunity when it presents itself, even if in the most unconventional ways.