advertisement
FYI

Prism Prize Video: Joel Eel - Performing A Crime

The 2019 Prism Prize for Best Canadian Music Video was awarded to Kevan Funk, for his clip for Belle Game’s Low. We will continue to profile noteworthy Canadian videos, including this one from a Toronto-based Korean-Canadian artist/producer.

Prism Prize Video: Joel Eel - Performing A Crime

By External Source

The 2019 Prism Prize for Best Canadian Music Video was awarded to Kevan Funk, for his clip for Belle Game’s Low. We will continue to profile noteworthy Canadian videos, including this one from a Toronto-based Korean-Canadian artist/producer.


Joel Eel: Performing A Crime

Joel Eel is a Toronto-based Korean-Canadian artist/producer. He released a debut album, Very Good Person, in 2017.

He describes this song as an exploration of the idea that being in love can feel criminal in and of itself. It is an observation of how two people intimately in love, exchanging a conversation that can result in misunderstanding. That eventually overpowers the positive motion of one’s intent. 

advertisement

The music video explores how these interactions take place through the lens of social media. The video reflects on technology as an interface for communication and how that can easily provoke misunderstandings. 

Eel hopes that people from the music video will take away some form of reliability of emotional response. He stated that a lot of songs lean towards parts of falling in love or heartbreak, which appears at the beginning and end of a relationship. And the middle is usually left out, which is where things feel uncomfortably distorted.

In essence, this song talks about the middle part of a relationship. 

CREDITS:

Creative Direction, Direction & Edited by Joel Eel

Director of Photography by James Kachan

Talent: Dina Roudman

Produced by: James Kachan & Joel Eel

Production Consultant: Eugen Sakhnenko

Production Consultant: Arash Moallemi

Stylist / Production Assistant: Liz Daicos

Production Assistant: Lucy Lu

Production Assistant & Hand Model: Oscar Chiu

Post Production by Andre Edwards-Roderique

Colour Grading by Charles-Etienne Pascal

Special Thanks: The Costume House.

advertisement
From left: GIVĒON, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Simon Gebrelul photographed by Diwang Valdez on December 20, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Styling by Yashua Simmons. Barbering by Moe Harb. Hair Braiding for Gilgeous-Alexander by Alysha Bonadie. Grooming by Teresa Luz. On-Site Production by Laela Zadeh.

From left: GIVĒON, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Simon Gebrelul photographed by Diwang Valdez on December 20, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Styling by Yashua Simmons. Barbering by Moe Harb. Hair Braiding for Gilgeous-Alexander by Alysha Bonadie. Grooming by Teresa Luz. On-Site Production by Laela Zadeh.

Features

Meet the Force Behind the Canadian NBA MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and R&B Star GIVĒON

In this Billboard Canada Toronto's Simon Gebrelul's strategy to make Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a one-of-a kind sports star — and disrupt the music world.

It’s mere days before Christmas, and Paycom Center is unusually quiet.

The arena — home of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning 2025 NBA champions — typically holds 18,000 roaring fans, but today, you could hear a pin drop. Yet even in silence, the Thunder’s accomplishments speak loudly. Division title banners hang proudly from the rafters. Scan past those banners and across the empty arena, and three words in bold orange and blue come into focus: Committed. Community. Together.

keep readingShow less
advertisement