Buffalo’s prodigal son of hip-hop, Chae Hawk, has released a short film for a single off of his four-year labor of love, Dance Party for the Heavy-Hearted—“Remember This Night,” featuring vocals and production from Nick Chiari, a.k.a Grabbitz. An earnest, gritty look at the grimy underside of the club scene, Hawk’s video twists the threads of a love story, concert film and action flick into a six-minute adventure:

In an email interview earlier this week, Hawk discussed the behind-the-scenes juggling required to get the “Remember This Night” video made, the concept for the film and his plans for the future—which, if true, could mean that “Remember This Night” will be all local fans see of the young rapper for a while.

The cast and crew: (The sleazy promoter in the film) “Nick Apostolides is from Boston. Good friends with the director, Alex Amoling. They first met on Alex’s passion project/ sci-fi short entitled Moriah (which is really dope).

“Michael Lawrence, who is the director of photography for this but responsible for DPFTHH trailer, suggested we bring on his good friend Alex for “Remember This Night.” They all drove in from New York to Grabbitz and I’s Nov. 24 Soundlab party. Right before I got on the stage, I was able to meet Nick, as well as Alex for the first time (we spoke many times via phone), and told them to feel free to shoot on location while I was on the stage. They captured exactly what you saw.

“Nick was perfect for me to work with because he brought more of a challenging dynamic. He is truly about his craft. Kim Cohen (was) also featured in my music video for ‘Ambition,’ which acts as a prelude to “RTN”— just like my project Blues of a Journeyman is the prelude to DPFTHH. So she is pretty much currently my love interest that I met in the intro of Blues. Time passed, now we are an item, which carried over to DPFTHH. Only on camera though. Maybe you might see more of her, us. We will see. if she is ready to turn the acting up—she did a great job and is wonderful to work with.”

On working with Alex Amoling: “I gave Alex the album and he really believed in it. He was excited to be a part, which made me excited because having someone do your visuals that believes in what you believe in is essential. He came up with the concept, which is very true to the facts of the song’s intent—trying to make it out of a situation (city) with those who you love, no matter the odds or adversity. Even if someone forces you to do things that you don’t like (even if its cocaine!). The grimy, rogue promoter represents a lot, as well. Now go back and watch close—it’s all hand in hand with my reality. I write what I know, staying true to myself and my reality in which I paint.”

Taking it from concept to creation: “(Filming) took one full day, and (another) full day of prior performances. Alex was cooking this in post-production for over a month and a half. I even made a trip to Brooklyn to spend time with him and check out the ruff. He was cooped up in Michael’s house all alone while Mike was shooting for the new Travelocity campaign out in Brazil. It was good to crack a brew and get to know him better. I’m thankful and honored to call both of these gentlemen my friends.”

Paying for it all: “The resources came from my company Team Radio’s piggy bank and Michael and Alex’s gracious hearts and appreciation for the vision. With the support of the people who purchase DPFTHH it will allow us to continue with our visual efforts everything we make. We put right into the art. It’s a very cathartic process.”

On the future: “I will be doing no more local appearances until I feel it is the right time to share this project in full. When people can really appreciate and understand truly what it took to make this work come together—as well as understanding the creative presentation.

“I’ve been collaborating with local artist Bobby Griffith at guttermagic.net to make the icons / art that you will see in the beginning of each video, which is also presented on the poster. Each song has its own individual icon, which gives each song its own importance and identity throughout the collective 20-track album.”

“It will take some time to get the attention I desire for this album, but my company and I are taking the right steps in order to get there. I will be releasing 3 to four more videos that will complete the visual presentation of Dance Party for the Heavy-Hearted throughout the year. My goal with this project is to make the people have a sense of personal connection to the album through the songs, to the art, to the short films, then to the presentation through performance. I am a performer at heart, so when it is time to do this album just right, best believe it be presented to the fans just right.

“I’m gunning for the 50 Cent / Kanye / Jay-Z slots in this business. This album is designed to get me steps closer, but I look forward to getting into the studio with my partner / friend / producer Grabbitz to change the world with my follow up. And we will do just that. Watch.”