We spoke to Rayan Falouji better known on Instagram as @gucci_falouji and he shared with us the story behind two of his favorite shots snapped.
SABA at SubT.
35mm Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 Film Camera with Kodak Portra 400 Film.
“Saba is probably my favorite rapper out right now, he’s at least in my top three. I saw ‘IDK’ was performing in Chicago at Subterranean [SubT] on Instagram which is a pretty small venue for an artist like IDK and I knew I had to shoot some pictures of him because of his incredible album ‘Is He Real?’ He became one of my favorite rappers quickly. I ended up reaching out to the opener’s team [Qari] who I am now close with. Shoutout to Wisam I love that guy. I reached out like three or four days before the show so I was super lucky to get a response. I was also supposed to take the ACT a day after the show so I didn’t know if it would even be worth it or not because SubT doesn’t even have a press pit so I didn’t know if I was going to get good shots. I said, ‘screw it’ and went anyways. I was shooting for my publication Prime Fortune and Qari. While I was at the concert chilling with Qari and his manager. This dude in a BAPE hoodie and jean jacket walks by and I’m like, ‘no way, that’s Saba.’ He ended up sitting down at a table by himself. I went up and talked to him for a few minutes and took his picture. He’s a very nice guy and he ended up posting the picture to his gram. I definitely don’t regret getting home past midnight on the day I was supposed to take the ACT.”
Chance & Kanye.
Nikon D3200 - 50mm - 1/1000 - F1.8 - ISO 800.
“Chance is my favorite rapper and has been for years. I shoot and intern for his foundation SocialWorks. I tried getting press credentials to his show at United Center however they were overloaded with photographers so I couldn’t get them. I was pretty bummed but a day before the show my best friend Ilan had an extra ticket and invited me. At the show, I ended up walking into the press entrance and they said I wasn’t on the list. I told them, ‘there must be a mistake.’ So they ended up saying they need to check. 20 minutes later a guy comes back and said I’ve been approved sorry for the mistake. He escorted me past every security check in the arena till we got to the photo pit. Chance came out to ‘No Problem’ putting on a great performance like usual. Kanye came out at the last minute. As Chance went to dap up Kanye, I pressed the shutter release button harder than I ever had before. This is one of my favorite shots I have taken. It’s my phone's background and I printed it out on a big poster to hang up in my house. Also, Chance liked it, Def Jam ended up posting it on their Instagram and it was retweeted by TeamKanyeDaily.”
Rayan Falouji is a 16-year-old photojournalist from Deerfield, Illinois. He currently shoots for Prime Fortune and Chance the Rapper’s nonprofit foundation SocialWorks. Within only six months of starting music photography, he has amassed an impressive portfolio which demonstrates consistent growth in his craft.