Q&A With Mykola Dosenko, The Man Behind Kanye’s Robocop Video

We like art. Particularly the kind that raises the bar, pushes the medium and forces other contemporary artists to step up their game. When we first saw the video for Kanye West’s Robocop, there wasn’t any conversation over whether it was a professionally commissioned piece- the video, an old school gamer’s wet dream, was such an impressive display of awesome that it never crossed our minds that one guy could’ve put it all together on his own.

As it turns out, that’s exactly what happened. Nobody paid him to do it- he’s just a fan with a skill set most artists would kill for. His name is Mykola Dosenko, a 24 year-old Ukranian self-described graphic designer / multimedia artist / comedian / celebrity chef / stunt driver. Needless to say, he’s an interesting cat, and we decided to dig a little deeper. 

Antiquiet: I did a little digging around, and found that your influences are Hip Hop, jazz, 2+ decades of video games, basketball / poetry in motion, tasteless humour / obscure jokes, shoes, and new Mythbusters episodes- (my favorite is the Homemade Hi-Def Speakers one). Can you break any of those down even further? 

Mythbusters and Discovery Channel is probably the least expected influence. I’m crazy about the show, I’ve seen every episode at least twice, and I simply love the whole creative/explorative process that these guys do, it’s simply unique, plus the team themselves are fascinating people! Everytime I see it, it just puts a big smile on my face, I love these guys.

Mykola Dosenko: Like I said, pop culture, pretty much. I don’t really tend to overcomplicate things, just trying to make dope shit that I’d not be ashamed to put out there for people to see. Also, trying to avoid clichés, because that’s something that really irks me as a viewer/listener.

Mykola Dosenko: Um, can’t talk about that just yet :) *crosses fingers*

Mykola Dosenko: Right after I did the DJ I-Dee video which was 16-bit, I had the idea of making something straight 8-bit, which is more challenging technically. For instance, the palette is limited to less that 60 colors for the whole thing.

Also, around that same time, I was really inspired by Vashtie’s vid for US Placers by CRS. I’ve watched that video quite a couple of times and loved it, and I always thought it was official. So when I found out it actually WASN’T… I was like “Whoaaa! Who knew, I guess it doesn’t really matter if the video is official or not, you can still make a dope unofficial video and it’ll be legit.”

So Vashtie’s video was definitely the final factor, if not for that video, I simply don’t think I’d have the balls to do it. THANK YOU VASHTIE!

The rest was pure impulse, I was literally sitting on the couch watching some TV, and the thought to make a Robocop video crossed my mind, and that was it :) Next morning I was working on it.

Mykola Dosenko: Photoshop, Flash, After Effects. That’s pretty much it. Oh and Google / Wikipedia / Youtube were invaluable in doing research! Can’t live without those three, haha.

Mykola Dosenko: The idea came to me in late December and the video was done in early March. Took a bit longer than expected but that’s because I was also invloved in freelance work at the ime.

Mykola Dosenko: A lot! I really wanted viewers to instantly recognize stuff they’ve played before. Some of the direct references to NES games are: Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon I + II, Megaman II (duh!), Battletoads, Duck Tales, Punch-Out… probably some others that I can’t remember right now.

I really avoided referencing obvious games like Super Mario and Space Invaders… If I see another video or commercial with the space invader aliens in it, I’ll probably throw up. That shit needs to stop! How long can people milk one game for their “8-bit” projects, when there’s thousands of them untouched?

Mykola Dosenko: Hmmm, well I’m a big Nintendo fan, so pretty much all the Nintendo classics. I have a hate-love relationship with Sega haha. I used to play a lot of PC games, Quake trilogy was my shit! I love the GTA series, Burnout, NBA Street. Metal Slug series is a  masterpiece. Of course I also love oddball games such as Katamari, WarioWare etc.

NOT a huge fan of strategy and RPG games, my ADD doesn’t work well with them, haha.

Mykola Dosenko: Uhh, no comment on that. “If you can’t say anything nice, keep it to yourself.” Haha. Not to say that there is no scene in Kiev but it’s centered around things I’m entirely not interested in.

Besides it’s safe to say that in Ukraine’s culture, making legit things takes a backseat to making money by ripping people off these days. No wonder that alot (if not most) of the Ukrainian artists that I respect work abroad.

Mykola Dosenko: Yes! Sir Charles! I could go on about this for hours haha. He’s amazing, not only as a unique ballpalyer but his whole thing where he isn’t afraid to be human. “I might be wrong but I doubt it” was the title of his book and I love that quote. Remember his Nike ads with the “I am not a role model?” How awesome was that. Plus I love what he’s doing with TNT these days.

Mykola Dosenko: Um… actually in a pretty bad way, because I instantly got a big head and thought I was the shit etc for a few months… That was really lame. Good thing my friends eventually put me in check.

Mykola Dosenko: Truth be told, right now I’d be really happy if I could just have a moderate living off what I do. Recession totally didn’t help me financially. Haha!

Mykola Dosenko: I’m ambidextrous, I have a crush on Rihanna, and the wallpaper in my room is a 8×16 ft print of Victoria Falls.