Animating The Ski-Mask Way

May 18th unveiled to the world the long-awaited animation video for the song “The Ski Mask Way,” from the album Blood-Lust. The Ski Mask Way is a song by legendary west-coast musician and actor, Ice T.

What makes this unique is the artist behind the animation, Tommy The Animator, who shares a unique common ground with Ice-T. Similarly to Ice--Tommy The Animator is a self-taught entertainer with a diverse skill-set. Where Ice has earned respect for his accomplishments as a musician and actor; Tommy also has an impressive resume with his own reputable accomplishments as a successful producer.

The premise of the video is a thief tracking would be victims of robbery on Social Media flaunting cash and jewelry while updating their location via their phone. This is often the case in the modern era given how much flaunting goes on across the web. Although, it may not seem common place to most of our lifestyle—the context from which Ice-T is coming from is well documented and lends itself to the mindset and focus of the song’s portrayal.

I had the chance to catch up with Tommy The Animator concerning the work that went into the video and this is what he shared with me.

“I met Ice through mutual circles that I cultivated during my music career in 1990’s. I started painting in 2007 and my former contacts caught wind of my work and started supporting me shortly thereafter. Ice happened to come to a show I was featured in and thankfully my work got his attention. Just like Ice, I am self-taught in all the fields I have fortunately found success in. A lot of people do not know I am self-taught in 3D animation. I was messing around on YouTube over a decade ago when I stumbled across some 3D animation videos and I was instantly consumed with learning how to create this sort of thing for my own work.

All those years of mastering the trade for the love of the art came full-circle when Ice caught me at that show. When he asked me if I would be interested I confirmed without hesitation. The next day arranged an Uber for me and my wife to go out to his place in New Jersey. This project definitely did take some time and a lot of sleepless nights to get this hustle done but it was so worth it. There are already other artists reaching out for me to animate their music videos. So, I am glad to have my career change so drastically in an instant."

One main takeaway from Tommy’s story is the moral of hard work paying off. He is self-taught but committed.Tommy can be viewed as a good example that all of one’s commitment can pay off if you stay diligent. Enjoy the video and use it as a springboard of inspiration!