Only in the video production world since 2011, Eif Rivera, video director, editor, and 3D graphic artist, has earned the respect of many rap heavy-weights. (He's "the new Hype Williams," according to Busta Rhymes.) But boy wonder isn’t a boy at all. Rivera has crafted everything from album artwork to promo t-shirts over the years. He's the mastermind behind many of 50 Cent's music videos, iconic logos like the Air Pun design and Young Jeezy’s Snowman campaign to, most recently, French Montana's "Excuse My French" album cover.
“I used to be a barber, and Gaby [Acevedo] (French Montana’s manager) was my customer,” Rivera told The Juice. As Acevedo worked his way up the ranks in SRC and Loud Records circles in the ‘90s, he’d find ways to include the Bronx native and New York City’s High School of Art & Design graduate in artists’ projects.
If Rivera’s not spending time with his wife and eight year-old son, the late-blooming director is working tirelessly on his next projects. Like director/editor Colin Tilley, his surgical eye determines when he’s captured the shots he needs, allowing him to quickly move on and dive into editing immediately after leaving set. Rivera’s animation background is the bonus, however. Eliminating the need to use post houses, the low profile one-man-team can under-bid his larger competitors and condense turnaround time.