ArtistInfo

Dan Melamid

US

A.k.a. Daniel Melamid

Dan Melamid, also known as DanTheMan, is an American director and cinematographer from New Jersey, son of the famous Russian-American conceptualist artist Alexander Melamid. Interested in rap and hip hop since the early childhood, Dan Melamid started working as an audio engineer at popular NYC clubs, where he had a chance to meet Run-DMC, Jay-Z and other seminal hip hop artists. In the mid-nineties, Melamid became a chief sound engineer at the recently established Pseudo Programs internet radio, where he collaborated with Marshall Mathers (Eminem), Wu-Tang Clan, and other musicians through 88 Hip-Hop Show. Following the opportunity to produce video content, Dan Melamid started KoolOut, a program dedicated to urban music, eventually becoming the youngest executive producer at Pseudo Online Network, and producing over 10 original shows. In 2001, after Pseudo.com had been closed during the dot-com bubble burst, Melamid with Jonathan "Shecky Green" Shecter co-founded RapNetwork.com, one of the earliest streaming platforms specialized in hip hop. While working on a project, Dan became primarily focused on film-making and directing music videos. Dan The Man is a long-time friend and collaborator of DJ Whoo Kid – he recorded and edited a few mixtapes for him at the early stages of Kid's career. They also created Rewind, one of the first hip hop DVD magazines, together. Eventually, Whoo Kid became 50 Cent's permanent DJ, and through him Dan met the G Unit's label crew. From 2002 to 2006, Melamid was a full-time director for G-Unit – he produced many documentaries and music videos for M.O.P., Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, and Mobb Deep, and also directed all videos on Fifty's album The Massacre. In 2011, Dan The Man appeared in Rhyme and Punishment, a documentary about incarcerated hip hop stars. Melamid played the key role in creation of his father's Holy Hip-Hop! portrait series, exhibited in 2008 at MOCAD (Museum Of Contemporary Art Detroit). It was Alexander Melamid's first solo project since Komar & Melamid co-authorship ceased to exist. Dan initially introduced Alex Melamid to the world of hip hop, and invited Whoo Kid (soon followed by 50 Cent) to pose for a portrait in his father's studio in SoHo. Inspired by the pompous faux royal celebrity lifestyle and flamboyant fashion choices of the rappers, Alexander Melamid created a series of paintings, portraying Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, ex-graffiti artist/fashion designer Marc Ecko, and other contemporary rap icons in the 'Old Masters' style that resembles the court portraits of Velázquez. Since 2007, Dan Melamid runs Fresh Air Films, a full service production company specializing in music videos. He worked with many prominent hip hop artists, such as Rick Ross, Maino, A$AP Ferg, Waka Flocka Flame, Ghostface Killah, Redman, Large Professor, Pete Rock, and Smoke DZA. Apart from music videos, Melamid also directed Brian McKnight Just Me (2013) TV film and Red Bull Presents: Lenny Kravitz (2014) documentary.

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