Christian Gates has always treated the visual side of his art as a collaboration, not an afterthought. The latest example is his ongoing creative partnership with Ray Shay (@rayyshayy), the two working together on the TikTok and Instagram content that keeps an internet-native artist in front of his audience.
A partnership, not a hire
It would be easy to frame this as Gates bringing in a videographer, but that undersells it. Gates is a filmmaker in his own right, he directs, shoots and edits, and came up making everything himself as ItsLuxCity. Working with Ray Shay is two visual minds pushing each other, trading ideas and building a look together, the way the best creative pairings work.
He has always worked this way
This is a pattern for Gates, not a first. He previously teamed with Moody Darkroom, the photographer whose shoot accidentally produced the title and marionette concept of his debut album No Strings Attached when Gates captioned a still “No Strings Attached.” The through-line is that Gates surrounds himself with visual collaborators and lets the chemistry shape the work, rather than handing it off.
Two visual minds, not a client and a vendor.
Why the shorts matter
For an artist whose entire come-up happened on a phone, short-form video is the front door. It is how new listeners find him, how songs go viral before they are finished, and how the cult stays fed between releases. A real creative partnership behind that content, rather than one-off clips, means a sharper, more consistent world, in the same cinematic spirit as the film-style TOXIC video.
More to come
The Gates and Ray Shay collaboration is one to watch as the content evolves. Follow along at thering.vip/christiangates, and read the full story in the wiki.