The latest single and music video from Bobby Newberry is “Ride", a feel-good jam he wrote and Sam J Garfield produced, about taking chances and chasing after life's wildest dreams.
“Sometimes it's not about the destination but the ride you take to get there," he explains. It's especially true in love. “There's nothing better than crushing on someone, getting the butterflies, feeling the magic and imagining the possibilities."
The mood is echoed in the music video, shot in Echo Park and downtown Los Angeles, and co-directed by Newberry and Beno Anastacio. It boasts Newberry's dancing in a high-energy clip that features him twirling, bumping and grinding alongside an all-male cast of dancers.
The making of 'Ride' was high speed, very zero to a hundred. We wrote the song and worked it in the studio on the same day. After that first session, I knew I had to do a full music video.
Bobby Newberry
Newberry also appears in his first intimate acting scene in a music video.
He says he was most nervous about the kissing scene in the video. The love interest is played by his friend Joey Gentile, and Newberry admits he needed two shots of tequila to loosen up for it. “It was my first time doing a scene like that! Luckily, it was the last scene we filmed that day."
Bobby Newberry has always had a passion for performing. As a kid, he was obsessed with Madonna and Michael Jackson. At his third-grade talent show, he performed Jackson's “Remember the Time." It included the choreography from the song's music video that Newberry taught himself. At 14-years-old, he got a job at El Pollo Loco, a local fast food chicken restaurant, to pay for dance lessons.
His first major break in the music industry was as a choreographer for Eminem. He would go on to work with a string of the world's top artists including Nicki Minaj, The Pussycat dolls, Missy Elliot, and Lil' Wayne. His choreography work has been seen on TV in Dancing With The Stars and X-Factor and many other shows.
“I look back at the beginning of my career and laugh at how I thought I was seasoned when I was so not," he explains. “As an artist, you grow, and I know so much more about everything that goes into the process of creating hit records. I am finally at an authentic place where my music represents who I am. My sound is pop, for sure, but it also very diverse, with many different vibes, just like me."
The dancers in the “Ride" music video are Derrell Bullock, Daniel Dory, Amari Smith, Mackenzie Green, Adam Vesperman, Lockheart Brownlie, Michael Metuakore, and Cameron Lee. Contributing choreographers are Haley Messick, Derrell Bullock, Daniel Dory, and Nicole Kirkland.
“I hope listeners will take a go on this ride with me," says Bobby Newberry. “It's a very honest track that I hope breaks down barriers. But most of alI, I hope it makes people want to dance."
Bobby Newberry's “Ride" is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and all digital platforms. The “Ride" video is available on YouTube.
Follow Bobby Newberry on Instagram @ bobbynewberry