7 Minutes in Heaven With Culture Hacker Maceo Paisley
Creativity means a lot of things to different people. To my DIY darlings at Brit HQ, (and probably a lot of you ;) it is that burst that comes from behind a sewing machine, in front of a fresh canvas, with Photoshop or Illustrator open on their desktop(s). *My* creative fires burn brightest on the dance floor, or in my studio apartment where I hope my downstairs neighbors don’t hate me (hey, aren’t you guys happy I FINALLY learned the moves to “Sorry” at least?!) — basically, wherever there is music and enough room to move to it. When our Exec Head of Creative Anjelika Temple told me she “knew a dancer in Justin Timberlake’s music video,” I had to know him too.
In this episode of 7 Minutes in Creativity Heaven (check out our premiere with the Lonely Island dudes), meet Maceo Paisley, a multi-hyphenate who got “discovered” for JT’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” (catch him at 1:09 in the video above!) on Instagram. Producer Saul Germaine, who follows Maceo on Instagram, caught one of his weekly dance videos on Facebook and called him up to see if he was interested in a *secret project.* “I signed on before I knew Justin was going to be in the video,” Maceo reveals. “I’m definitely glad I took the offer.”
As he got to work with the creative genius that is Mr. Timberlake, Maceo was kind enough to humor me with a couple behind-the-scenes secrets: “I will say that he is a very charming and funny ‘regular’ guy — and down to earth. When it comes to performing, he takes his work seriously but doesn’t take himself seriously. And, wow can he move! I got a sneak peak of him rehearsing and it seems like the guy could have been a ballerino if things had turned out differently for him.” While I picture JT in tights, get to know Maceo Paisley, my *new* creativity crush. (We’ll always have “SexyBack,” J.)
Who should we spend 7 minutes in creativity heaven with next? Tweet us all about them @BritandCo and @LRapTweets!
(Photos via Daniel N. Johnson, Design by the supremely talented Maris Kumtong)
