'This is actualy becoming the new cell phone. Cell phones are kind of like a 90s, 80s thing, but this right here is for the millenium," murmurs the man slouched deep in the worn couch, eyes fixed on the images flitting by on the editing console before him.  Strong statement.  But he happens to be Hype Williams, 30-year-old hip-hop video auteur extraordinaire, and he knows a thing or two about communication.  For close to a decade he's pumped his own brand of image voodoo into the pop culture's visual cortex via music videos for the likes of Puff Daddy, Missy Elliott, and Busta Rhymes, and commercials for the Gap and the hip-hop clothing line Fubu.  Follow the Leader, his forthcoming book of video stills from PowerHouse Books, encapsulates that influence.  But forget videos and books; Hype's got a brand-new bag for reaching out and touching folk -- the Motorola SkyTel pager affixed to his hip.

     "This is almost like having a baby computer," the bi-coastal director says, "I can send the same information that I can with a cell phone, but more specifically.  Here I can be very meticulous with my words and send it to someone who can store it in memory."

     Hype's got his own little digital Mafia -- an exclusive club of young celebrity types firing and storing messages with delighted abandon.  The boys: rap artists Jay-Z, DMX, Busta Rhymes, and LL Cool J, and Def Jam president Kevin Liles and manager Spencer Baumgarten.  And then the girls: Mariah, Tyra Banks, an T-Boz from the R&B girl group TLC.  Speaking of whom...

     "Let's page T-Boz," Hype exclaims, snatching the squat, blocky pager from his hip and keying in a message.  She'll hit me back in a few."

      Spoken like a guy who knows how to communicate.