NASHUA – A 2006 Nashua High School South graduate earned a Grammy nomination for directing a music video titled “I’m Not Racist,” a work viewed more than 106 million times on YouTube.

In February, Ben Proulx will learn if he and American rapper/songwriter Joyner Lucas will win the Best Music Video Grammy. Their video is one of five nominated in this category.

In high school, Proulx was a part of the school’s Video Production & Broadcasting Program. After high school, he went on to obtain a degree in film from Fitchburg State University. According to Proulx’s professional Facebook page, he served an internship at Ridley Scott Associates in Los Angeles where he worked on the set of a handful of music videos including “Grenade” by Bruno Mars, “Gimme Dat” by Ciara and a work by Usher.

After college, Proulx directed in L.A. for two years while also obtaining a certification at Sony Pictures Studios as a 3D cinematographer.

In 2012, Proulx returned to the East Coast and linked up with his childhood friend, Connor Hayes, a graduate from Merrimack High School. They became business partners and built Project 2 Studios in Manchester. Proulx said they chose to name it Project 2, as Hayes had created an original Project Studios in a garage in Milford.

The two of them worked together on a movie that premiered at the Boston Film Festival. Proulx said this was “just the beginning of things.”

In 2015, Proulx noticed Joyner Lucas after watching his music video, “Ross Capicchioni.” The song in the video is based on the true story of the then 17-year-old Ross Capicchioni, who survived multiple gunshot wounds from someone who pretended to be his friend as part of a gang initiation.

“I saw that music video and immediately wanted to see him. Then, I found out through a friend who was booking him that he was actually local and was coming to do a show in Manchester,” Proulx said.

So he went to the show, met Lucas’s manager and got him in the studio. They’ve done almost 20 videos with Lucas since, Proulx said.

Eventually, they worked together to create the music video “I’m Not Racist.”

“Joyner was at the studio and we were brainstorming concepts that were simple that could make an impact in under one minute,” Proulx said. Lucas then decided he wanted to turn it into a full video, and came up with a song the next day.

Little did they know, their music video was going to be a big hit.

“I’m not racist” features two men, one black and one white, sitting at a table across from one another. The two men are lip-syncing to Lucas’s lyrics throughout the whole video. Both men list off stereotypes they have of each other, stereotypes they face. By the end of the video, the two embrace in a hug after a getting better understanding of each other.

The last few lyrics state:

“I wish we could trade shoes or we could change lives

So we could understand each other more but that’d take time

I’m not racist

It’s like we livin’ in the same buildin’ but splittin’ the both sides

I’m not racist

But there’s two sides to every story and now you know mine

Can’t erase the scars with a bandage

I’m hopin’ maybe we can come to an understandin’

Agree to disagree, we could have an understandin’

I’m not racist”

“We shot the video within a week, basically with no budget. We shot it right in our building where our studio is in Manchester and we had no idea at the time how big it was going to become,” Proulx said.

It became big. Just a few weeks ago, Lucas and Proulx found out they were nominated for the Best Music Video Grammy.

Lucas was also nominated for Best Rap Song for his collaboration with Eminem for the song “Lucky You.”

When Proulx and Lucas learned of their Grammy nomination, they had to stop filming because they were so excited.

“It was a already a good day. We were having a good shoot, but that put that shoot on pause,” Proulx joked.

They will learn the verdict on Feb. 10. Currently, they are up against The Carters, Childish Gambino, Janelle Monáe and Tierra Whack.

Proulx noted the importance of collaboration for directing and producing the music video.

“I believe the artist should have creative control,” Proulx said. “It’s really refreshing when you have an artist like (Lucas) who has such a vision and is such a real artist from the ground up. It makes things a lot more fluid and it almost always makes for a better product.”

Proulx added, “I think that there’s a difference between someone who just wants a video and someone who really knows what they’re doing with their art. (Lucas) is a true artist. He’s really amazing and I love working with him.”

Grace Pecci can be reached at 594-1243, or at gpecci@nashuatelegraph.com.

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