Rik Cordero gets the infinite “hat tip” in my book. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Rik for quite some time and first met him at a production house through a mutual friend circa 2004. Not knowing his aspirations as a director, I slowly saw his videos drop on YouTube and soon realized homie’s success was inevitable, as each project featured more recognizable artists. I would be remiss to deny his Filipino roots not emitting some sort of pride as we share the same nationality. Without a doubt, his work is paving the way for future Pinoys to pursue this career path.

Still, five years ago I couldn’t conceive another one of my people being categorized in the same breath as Hype Williams or Benny Boom and Rik has – literally. His nomination for Director of the Year at the 2009 BET Awards is undeniable proof that Rik and his production company Robot Films are names to consider for all top flight musicians. “Arab Money?” That’s him. Clipse’s “Popular Demand?” Uh-huh. The Roots video with Sasha Grey? Jealously? Yes.

Not only working with musicians, Cordero is also an accomplished film director with the most recent project Inside A Change receiving the “Best Film” award during the 2009 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival. And if you’ve seen the motion picture for The Roots’ “The Fire”, you can expect some some Scorsese-level dramatic work in the future.

Rik thankfully hasn’t gone Hollywood on us. Well, actually I would like him to go Hollywood since he is, in fact, a director. But before he goes, we were able to snag a few minutes out of his schedule to have him share a few tracks he’s been digging lately.

In the meantime, I’m thinking of how I can finagle an introduction with Sasha.