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With Rihanna uploading teaser after teaser for this "Where Have You Been" video, we knew the mounting anticipation could only mean that this thing was going to be MAY-JOR. When we caught wind that sickeningly talented makeup artist/current Artistic Director for Myface Cosmetics/skilled illustrator Kabuki (who BTW has artfully painted the faces of such mega-watt stars as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and of course, that face-melting beauty magnum opus that was Katy Perry's "E.T." music video) worked on the vid, we knew our suspicions had to be correct. Also, that we needed to sit Kabuki down for a chinwag immediately. We picked the legend's brain, and along with hooking us up with a GRIP of gorgeous hand-drawn Rihannas, he obliged us with juicy details about the entire video process, Ri's creative input, and just how he got those gold sparkles all over her face.
MTV STYLE: We last chatted with you after the technicolor alien MASTERPIECE that was "E.T.", and since then, you've worked with Rihanna on her "Where Have You Been" video which dropped today. What was the process of developing makeup looks for that like?
KABUKI: Well, you receive a storyboard, and that will tell you the director's vision, but that's just the starting point. With the "Where Have You Been" video, it's set in the jungle and the desert. I was getting this feeling of primordial jungle and heat. That's not really conducive to looking "done up" with lipstick and everything like that, so I thought of more smoldering eyes and glowing skin and anything that could reference an animal without being ridiculous. I did some quick sketches and quick references, but it kind of took its own form as we were working.
