Chaz Singleton

David Adams: All right, guys, thanks for joining us on the Elation podcast. Today, we're here with Chaz Singleton, AKA Astro Clown.

David Adams: I mean, it's weird calling you Chaz a little bit. I feel like Astro is a real brand.

Chaz Singleton: So it is, and it's, uh, I guess the brand is so proficient now that, you know, I have a split audience. I got celebrities hit me like “Astro!”, others like Chaz Singleton. Like, hey, it doesn't matter.

Chaz Singleton: It doesn't matter. I finally accepted Astro. Like, people just started calling me that just from the brand, so I was like, all right, whatever, it's going to happen, you know?

David Adams: Especially when you make it, it's a good one. It catches people's attention, right? But let's talk a little bit about your origin story. Like, where are you from? I know you're from Mississippi, right?

Chaz Singleton: Yes, let's clarify. I'm from the Gulf Coast.

Chaz Singleton: So like there's Mississippi, and then when you get south of I-10, the Gulf Coast. That's where I'm from.

David Adams: I know exactly what you're talking about.

David Adams: So when did you start coming to New Orleans?

Chaz Singleton: Crazy enough, most of my clientele is in New Orleans, and that happened by chance, for sure. I mean, you want an origin story? Early on in my career, I started working with BG, and as BG's cameraman, that's where I started branching off. I started working with some of the Chopper City Boys.

David Adams: Did you meet them in Mississippi? Where did you meet them?

Chaz Singleton: Met them all through BG. Well, I met BG in Gulfport for a concert, and before I met him, that was my favorite rapper. I don't know if you know Tracy, that's his manager. She came up to me like, "Hey, can you get some shots of Jizzle?" I'm like, "Can I just get a shout out?" That's like, this is my favorite rapper. And she came back 10 minutes later, like, "Do you edit?" I'm like, "Yeah." She's like, "Well, can you shoot his next music video?" I'm like, "When?" She said, "What you doing tomorrow?" I said, "I'll see you there."

Chaz Singleton: Man, that's crazy, like, that's how it all unfolded.

Chaz Singleton: We shot it in October of 2011, and I didn't hear anything until January 2012. I got the call, "Hey, it just went on World Star," and by the time I checked, it was over a million views in the first 24 hours, like 2.6, 2.8 million with my name on it. I had never seen that before. The popularity kind of rose. Local people knew I was getting into it, so they were like, "Hey, y'all need to work with him." I was just like, that was all I had heard. So I reached out to Gar from The Chopper City Boys and was like, "Man, I've been trying to get in touch with you. I want to shoot more videos." So we started shooting, and then I met BG. Well, BG came to one of the shoots, and I was able to talk with him. He's like, "I got plenty more for you." And so I was kind of just, I was getting passed around like a cheap cameraman in a good way. But I just started working with everybody and then went on tour with them. At that point, people were seeing me, so when friends and family asked, "Hey, what's up with BG?" I started getting, "Like, I'm BG's cameraman." So I started getting local people like Gar had his click of people, so now I'm shooting them and then I'm shooting, and it just grew.

David Adams: Let's talk a little bit about the industry side of it. Most people don't realize you have to do a lot of stuff either for free or for low budgets to get yourself moving. You can't necessarily ask for the manager's salary when you're still trying to figure out how to be an employee.

Chaz Singleton: Sure. Look, I'm 14 years in, going on 15, and I can say that I really found my success within the last six years or so, really feeling it. Like you said, it's an investment. A lot of people I personally know are envious of me, not even doing what I do, but just it's almost like a slick hate because of how fast things happened for me. Obviously, my fourth music video, so it happened fast, but they didn't see all of the time and effort. They don't know how many free BG videos I did just because I knew what it would do for me, and it worked. But I mean, that's any business. You got to buy microphones before you can start a podcast. You're not going to be paid for it. You have to pay the lease regardless if your restaurant's open or not. It's an investment. I never looked at it any other way, and I still do free work if it's something that I think, "Man, I'm just vibing with it. This is going to look good for you. This is going to look good for me, and we'll win together." It happens all the time.

David Adams: Absolutely. You have to progress yourself. Collaboration with independents especially, there's not always money there. Actually, sometimes I feel like you can be more creative when there's no money there.

Chaz Singleton: Absolutely. That was one of the biggest things. When I hear a track and in my head, this is going to be something, or it has the potential to be something, I'll keep it real with you. I'll give you a super discount or a deal on this video, but I need you to put your money into the video, that creativity. Let's say it's $1,000 to rent a Lamborghini, and that's all your song's about. I'm not going to bash your head in for the price. Go rent that Lambo so we can make a good-looking video. I'm all about that. I'm set financially, I'm not balling out of control, but I can afford to do that, and I think that's a blessing, being able to give people deals.

David Adams: Absolutely. Well, that's a real give back because independent artists need that help. What made you pick up a camera? Let's start there.

Chaz Singleton: I was a skater, and like, so I didn't even know that, how do I say it, music videos were even a thing of mine. That was just something I watched from my favorite artist, untouchable people. I moved to Florida after Katrina and got my hand on a skate video for my favorite skater, and the video was perfect. All his tricks were edited to the music, so I was like, that's a music video. So I tried to start making my own. I was pretty solid at it, but...

David Adams: I was thinking that's what you liked about New Orleans, our sidewalks are all screwed up.

Chaz Singleton: It's great for skating. No, I wasn't really like that skater type, the lawbreaking rebellious skater. I just wanted to be good at it. I did a front flip out of a bowl over three people, and that was the last trick in my skate video. It's out there somewhere. I'll get you a link. But I had somebody call me, he was like, "Hey man, can you make a music video?" I'm like, "I just did a front flip over three people on rollerblades. I can do anything." Didn't know what I was doing, but he actually gave me my first camera, a huge Sony shoulder mount. I shot the music video for his artist. It was terrible, but the cool part about it, I still have that. It's got an asterisk at the top, it says "My first music video." I'll show anybody with confidence because this is where I started. I'm not ashamed of it. I know I have work out there that speaks for itself. It shows the growth. That camera, he ended up letting me keep, and that's actually the one I started shooting BG with. From there, I just did my own research because I had no intentions of doing it. It kind of found me. I learned, how can I get a better camera? You got to think, 2011, those were the World Star days where Wayne, Rick Ross, those people were putting out a green screen video every single day. So I was trying to see, what are they shooting this with? I just started doing my research on the Canon SLR cameras, learned and grew.

David Adams: Well, now you got a RED.

Chaz Singleton: Now it's my third RED. I started growing. Let me give you a crazy one on the RED. I got invited to a video. Someone called me, they were like, "Hey, I saw you know BG. I have a video coming up." This is Manny Fresh, 2 Chainz, and Juvenile. I just bought the B.O.A.T.S. 2 CD, and Manny Fresh is my favorite producer, hands down. When I heard the track, I was like, wow, that's awesome. When they called me, the producer called and said that, I'm like, okay, I know it's got to be that song. But it turns out everybody was there. He gave me an address, we'll be there. He gave me the time, he's like, "You know how to work a RED?" Yeah, sure.

David Adams: Oh wow, no clue.

Chaz Singleton: No clue. I immediately downloaded the manual. It's like a 300-page manual on RED's website. It's not an easy camera to function. It's a computer with the feature of a camera. Luckily, I didn't go out there. The actual director found his own DP. It was kind of a race for everybody. I was one of the people that were called. But I learned the RED just on paper only, and then I bought one. That was it, man. From there, I started upgrading and progressing through it.

David Adams: Which RED do you have now?

Chaz Singleton: Right now, I'm on the Raven. I have several people that want to buy it, and I would love to sell it so I can upgrade. I want the 8K. I'm still working with the DSMC2 cameras because I have all the accessories for it. The new stuff, I would be $30,000 in accessories just to make it work. I want to upgrade to the 8K, but I don't have time to sell my equipment. If I sold it to you today, I still got an order. But I just told you pre-show, I got shoots every day. Mother's Day is my next break.

David Adams: That's the way it needs to be, though. The camera doesn't make money turned off.

Chaz Singleton: That's true.

David Adams: That's awesome. What's BG like? Tell us a little bit. Can you give us some insights? Because I hear all kinds of different rumors about his personality.

Chaz Singleton: BG is probably one of the first celebrities that I ever met. Like I said, I grew up, I'm a hot boy. I had every CD. He was literally the most humble person. To this day, as far as I know, I've seen people meet him. I used to bring my friends to video shoots. If you were a rapper, I'm not competing with you. Hey, come here. Don't come fanboy in it, but like, Jizzle, this is my guy that raps. If y'all want to talk, if y'all want to work something out, he might throw you a deal for a feature or something. Let's make it happen. I have never seen him out of line. I've seen him turned up, but we're all there, like the clubs. Show so you saw me like that, piglet, you know? Somebody handed me a microphone, bad idea.

David Adams: Right, bad idea.

Chaz Singleton: Crazy enough, no matter how lit BG was when I was with them, when somebody handed a microphone, he turned into BG. I thought that was just awesome. Me and my wife were in the studio with him one night, and it was just like, dog, he spit it out. He's just going on and on. He got in the booth, word for word, no problem. That's my dog. I love him, man. Humble, humble, humble.

David Adams: That's awesome. Well, it means the craft means something to him too.

Chaz Singleton: Sure.

David Adams: Not like he's just getting in the booth and just saying stuff. He's actually paying attention to what he's saying and cares about it.

Chaz Singleton: Another person like that is Webby. I've talked to Savage several times, and it's like, just my communication with you, you made these songs, which I love it. I love it all. To each his own. If that's what you do, that's what you do. I like it. That was just Friday. I talked to him, and it's like talking to Silk. I said, I've never met him. It's like talking to Silk. He talks like he raps. The cadence is the same, and he uses the same words. Sometimes he'll stop mid-sentence, and you're just supposed to know what he said. I love Silk. It's my dude. When I met him, I didn't expect to hear an album every time we talked. He just talks like that.

David Adams: Celebrities that do keep it real are the ones that we need to keep around.

Chaz Singleton: Absolutely.

David Adams: Because they appreciate it.

Chaz Singleton: I never understood the angry celebrity. You do realize without us, without buying merchandise, tickets, CDs, you don't exist. We, the people, make you as an artist.

David Adams: 100%. And the team, the back end.

Chaz Singleton: A lot of people forget that.

David Adams: It's fortunate that I've been around nothing but dope artists, and they appreciate even the little people.

Chaz Singleton: I feel like that age group that we all grew up in have similar thought processes in that sense, especially the ones that are still doing it now. They understand the team, the value of the team, how much the team needs to make. They understand that, yeah, they are the artist, but they're not necessarily the only thing you need.

David Adams: To counter that, and the reason why we might run into people that are not like that today, I just think it's too easy to become somebody. You have more one-hit wonders now than ever because anybody could put music out. There's no artist development. I can make it on my own off of one song because I put it on TikTok a million times. Now I'm here, and then I can't follow up with anything. There's no foundation, but pride stops a lot of people. They're not really having to sell physical copies anymore like the old artists used to. That's where the shift change happened. They got too comfortable in the new generation with it. I wish everybody the best because if they're successful, so am I.

Chaz Singleton: 100%. I get to shoot.

David Adams: It is too easy to put stuff out now.

Chaz Singleton: They used to mold artists for years before they let people out into the public.

David Adams: Do you remember the song "Ice Cream Paint Job"?

Chaz Singleton: Yeah, absolutely.

David Adams: I shot a video for him. I met him the night we were shooting the video. We sat in the truck and talked. This is 2011, shortly after the BG video dropped. I'm sitting with Doo, and we're chopping it up. He's like, "Ice Cream Paint Job" circulated in Dallas for three years before y'all heard it. That blew my mind at the time. I was so early in my career. Three years? Locally, Q93 was bumping new cash money and no limit. They let Master P talk on the radio for hours. It opened my eyes to the industry as a whole. I never knew that was a thing.

David Adams: It's like Lady Gaga. I think she pitched "Pokerface" for what, six years before Aon saw it?

Chaz Singleton: Wow.

David Adams: Performing in little bars and stuff. Somebody called Aon at her performing in a little bar. That was the story I heard.

Chaz Singleton: I didn't know that.

David Adams: Yeah, she was performing that song live for six years before it ever came out.

Chaz Singleton: Consistency. You got to keep pushing. You can't give up on a good idea.

David Adams: For sure.

Chaz Singleton: There's time and space for everything.

David Adams: Tell me about the Hot Boys. Are you excited about this Essence Festival thing?

Chaz Singleton: I haven't gotten a call. There's no real call for me. If I know they're coming to New Orleans, I can make a call and say, "Hey, I'm coming." I literally just watched on my phone before I came in, they're interviewing Wayne talking about it. Everybody's like, "Oh, Juvenile's not going to do it," or "They're not going to let Turk do it," and "Wayne's too expensive." Then I watched the interview with Wayne this morning. He said, "Oh, Juve's ready, Turk is ready, I'm ready. We just got to make sure BG can tour." That felt good for me. I know Wayne's humble. I've met Wayne before, and he's super chill too. I was like, man, I hope he doesn't get too expensive for the people he started with. No issues as far as I can tell. I'm still a spectator too.

David Adams: From what I understood, Baby was the one holding the number for the longest, and everybody else was willing to do it. From what I get, it's literally just waiting on the BG situation.

Chaz Singleton: How we talked about investments, I think it's the same thing. Somebody somewhere is going to have to take a pay cut unless they want to sell tickets at $700 a piece, which is a gamble on itself. Wayne, he's not going to make as much as a Young Money concert, but what it does for his brothers.

David Adams: Wayne's getting crazy numbers right now. Half a million a show right now.

Chaz Singleton: Right now.

David Adams: If my daughter's watching, any of my kids, if y'all are watching, you're not getting Wayne for the birthday.

Chaz Singleton: Just what, a year and a half ago, he was getting like $150,000?

David Adams: I thought it was $100K max.

Chaz Singleton: $450K was the lowest number I've heard in the last...

David Adams: That's him booking himself too.

Chaz Singleton: He's banking on himself. I'm proud of that. I'm a fan.

David Adams: Take the power back. That's what I want the music industry to do, take the power back and give it to the artist.

Chaz Singleton: Crazy enough, he can't be stopped either. I like every phase of it. Speaking of BG, got him a track from it. I saw that. BG said, "I want the mixtape Weezy on my new album," and he laid the verse down.

David Adams: I did see that.

Chaz Singleton: That's what he gave me.

David Adams: That's awesome. I can't wait to hear it.

Chaz Singleton: Absolutely.

David Adams: Tell us a little bit about... There are both sides. There's Cash Money, there's No Limit. You've worked with both. Tell us about meeting P and the different sides of the businesses they approach.

Chaz Singleton: I can't lie, I'm a huge Birdman fan. He's not the best rapper, not a lyrical genius, but I like him for what he's done and the artists he's given us. Same thing with Master P, not a lyrical genius either, but I love the music. I'm a No Limit Soldier, I'm a hot boy for life. I've worked with about 90% of each brand. Meeting Master P, again, humble but a businessman. You could tell. My dad's a businessman, and he's got the vibe. Everybody I've worked with under him, Chopper, that's my brother, shout out to Chopper. Fi, man, I met Fi through Chopper. We worked, shot five videos in six days. Great people. Fe and Mac in one together. Everybody's excited for that. "Man, you shot a real video for Mac since he's come home?" Yeah, it's crazy. Just last month, Fi called me to shoot an interview with Mia X, which if you didn't know, Mia doesn't really do interviews. I didn't even realize what I was sitting on until I had it. Everybody from both sides have been cool. I got to hang with Juvie for his birthday in March. We did the Juvie Tuesday thing. I shot a music video for him. I met Wayne at the first Fan Fest ever for the Sugar Bowl, I think. I met him, talked to him. "Hey, I've been shooting for BG." He shook my hand, we chopped it up. Met a lot of Young Money that day. Turk, me and Turk shot last month. Put him in the video with Ronald, the "Make Me Hot" remix. The remix remix.

David Adams: You did the remix remix somewhere else, right?

Chaz Singleton: In Atlanta. We went to Atlanta to shoot Turk's part, then came back and shot the rest. Then I shot Turk when he came back down for the proclamation. All the artists have been getting that. Turk has been cool. I get texts from everybody now.

David Adams: That was the ultimate test that I trust you. I let you shoot fire off in my warehouse.

Chaz Singleton: Even crazier, that was the ultimate test because I had just got him. My only test was in my driveway. I told my little girl, "Press this button." My son saw the flame, he hit the button. "I called my local fire department. I'm cool with one of the firemen in my area." I asked him about it. "Do I need permits?" "No, no, you're good." I made sure my liability insurance was up to date. It's one of my favorite videos that I've done. It looks cool.

David Adams: Better place to do it than here.

Chaz Singleton: I appreciate it.

David Adams: What was it like shooting here? Tell us a little bit about Elation.

Chaz Singleton: I love shooting here because, again, I'm a music video director from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Look Bay St. Louis up, 10,000 people, all retired. There's no artists there. We got a handful, but it's not L.A., Atlanta, New Orleans. I like having this here close for me. I bring people in because as a creative, I want to make those big-budget videos, and I don't have people with big budgets. I can talk them into shooting here where you get more quality. It's not going to be like putting a green wall or a white wall at home. We're going to get the full studio effect. I hope it inspires them. I hope when they see your producers here, get in a real studio, something that sounds good. Everybody wants to record themselves, but it's not the same.

David Adams: 100%.

Chaz Singleton: I like the vibe. I like the behind-the-scenes of working here more than the videos themselves. People see that I'm working on a professional level.

David Adams: That's awesome.

Chaz Singleton: That's how I feel about that.

David Adams: Awesome, man. I appreciate that. We love having you.

Chaz Singleton: Absolutely.

David Adams: The goal was to bring some L.A. industry vibes and equipment here and allow access to the independent artist.

Chaz Singleton: Absolutely.

David Adams: Going back to doing free work for talented artists, that start can spark a crazy career. That one little couple of hours you helped or even a full day that you helped, and you took care of somebody else, that always comes back.

Chaz Singleton: For sure. Everybody that's somebody, they started somewhere.

David Adams: 100%.

Chaz Singleton: Don't forget that.

David Adams: It's the ultimate give-back. Tell me a little bit about what brings elation to you in your life. What do you think?

Chaz Singleton: That could be a long answer.

David Adams: Well, hey.

Chaz Singleton: The biggest thing for me, man, is just doing it. Literally just doing it. What I mean by that, whether it's the production, whether it's the family, I have a balance like no other. I take my vacations several times a year. I don't miss anything important for family, for friends. I'm a good friend, I think.

David Adams: I'll second that.

Chaz Singleton: Seriously, my balance. I had to find that. Sometimes I take a step back and realize, wow, I'm doing it. Honest moment, I was editing the Master P show, and I just sat back and started crying at my house by myself. I'm looking around like, God, what is wrong? I'm laughing, I'm crying because I grew up listening to these people, and now they trust me with their products. For the record, I wasn't the official videographer for the show, but I'm following artists. I have to shoot for Mia, I have to shoot for Chopper. I got in trouble for listening to explicit music. I got in trouble for making a No Limit jersey out of my last white tee. My grandma tore me up. I laugh and tell them that. I sit back, and I'm like, holy crap, this just happened. That's what brings elation, the fact that I am actively doing it. This is my only job. I don't clock in, I don't answer to anyone. For me, I love it.

David Adams: Well, it's funny you said balance because that's one of the things I noticed about you first. You're always right here in a good way. You're always level. The entertainment business has a lot of lows and a lot of highs, but I feel like if you stay balanced, the lows don't mean too much, and you don't take too much from the highs. If you take too much from the highs, you're not humble anymore. Your wings melt. If you take too much into the lows, you lose your drive and focus. The way you approach the videos and things that happen in the middle of the video that you got to fix and do things, it's just all even balanced. That's one thing I noticed about you.

Chaz Singleton: I appreciate it. That's learned, by the way. Starting out, it could be discouraging, but you learn, live, and try not to make the same mistakes.

David Adams: Awesome. We're going to throw Call of Duty in there too.

Chaz Singleton: Six hours a day, minimum.

David Adams: War zone.

Chaz Singleton: I've been killing some zombies, by the way, just to say it.

David Adams: Six hours a day?

Chaz Singleton: My wife would kill me. She's not home. She's a school teacher, so I really have eight hours.

David Adams: Gotta get my wife a job.

Chaz Singleton: Drop the kids off, go to the gym, war zone for three hours, three more at night. If I can add any time on either end to that, absolutely. I'm going to work on my time.

David Adams: Great, man. Tell us about your socials, where people can find you.

Chaz Singleton: For me, if you want to be in my personal life, Facebook, Chaz Singleton. There's only two in the world. He lives in Virginia. Shout out to Chazo. We met because we have the same name. Instagram, @astro_clown. I post all of my work, updates, anything I'm doing. If I have behind the scenes from today, you'll see it there.

David Adams: How do they book you?

Chaz Singleton: Go to @astro_clown on Instagram. Just hit me up there. If I show you my text messages, I think I have 1,500. That's why I got to put it on airplane mode. It's overwhelming. I got to work on balancing that.

David Adams: It's a good flex to have.

Chaz Singleton: Right, right.

David Adams: Awesome, man. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate the time. It was good talking with you.

Chaz Singleton: Absolutely.

David Adams: Thank you guys for coming. Elation Podcast, where we find exhilarating euphoria through creation and collaboration.