Billboard (November 22, 1997) p.47
SCREEN SAVERS
by Amy Linden
A new wave of directors is making hip-hop video bolder, brighter and
more bombastic than ever. Who pumped up the color and volume, and what
kind of shelf-life will the current trends have?
Fish-eye lenses. Pyro and flashspots. Elaborate tracking shots that
would bring tears to Martin Scorsese's eyes. Aerial photography to
rival anything in the latest action-adventure flick. Color so deep, and
saturated that it puts the "k" in Kodachrome. Jet skis. Cigarette
boats. Hummers and Motoquzzis. Mega Man, Superfly, Josephine Baker and
a wayward elephant.
Hip-hop video directors have moved past the grainy, slice-of-life epics
that were the hallmark of the West coast gangsta-rap era. Gone are the
scowling homies in the. 64's, strapped to the nines, guzzling their
40's and going to endless barbecues. Say goodbye to the authentic but
relentlessly cheap me-and-the-crew portraits. Led by a new breed, among
them F Gary Gray (TLC's "Waterfalls"), Brett Rather (Wu-Tang Clan's
"Killer Bees"), and Lance "UN" Rivera, (Lil Kim's "Not Tonight"),
today's new hip-hop aesthetic is technologically advanced, shamelessly
excessive, in-your-face, bolder, righter, pricier and more bombastic
than ever.
URBANIZED INTERPRETATION
The leading liqhts of the latest video vanguard are Paul Hunter and
Hype Williams. Between them, the two young directors have developed
clips, For nearly everyone. It is literally impossible to have MTV or
the Box on for more than 20 minutes without seeing, a video that either
Williams, who is based in New York, or Hunter, a California native, has
directed or co-directed. Hype Williams' work, in particular, is
credited with helping to change the look of rap videos. His explosive,
experimental and delightfully whacked-out style is perhaps best
typified by the videos he's lensed For Busta Rhymes ("Woo Ha! Got You
A11 In Check," "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See") and. Missy
"Misdemeanor" Elliott ("The Rain [Supa Dupa Fly]," "Sock It 2 .Me").
The latter video, which cost a rumored seven Figures, Features a sort
of urbanized interpretation of Japanese animation, further pushing the
creative envelope. Williams' videos are so distinctive that he, like
Hunter, has already spawned a slew of wannabes, who mimic the unique
camera angles and saturated colors that are his hallmark. In fact, in
what is either a shout-out or a slap in the Face, Williams' and
Hunter's sometimes over-the-top look has been parodied by comedian
Chris Hock's hilarious video "Champagne."
THE LOOK OF HONEY AND LONELINESS
While Paul Hunter's 'look" may not be as easy to identify, as Hype
Williams', he is no less in demand. Hunter's current roster of clients
includes Mariah Carey (Honey), Puff Daddy ("The Benjamins" remix), LL
Cool J ("Phenomenon") and Boyz II Men (4 Seasons of Loneliness"). His
expansive cinematic style has earned the 31-year-old a nomination for
best director at this year's Billboard Music Awards. Former filmmaker
Hunter claims that he has always wanted to "do something different" and
that desire helped Fuel his career. When asked why rap videos now
appear to be so much more experimental and cutting edge, Hunter, who
began making videos Pour )/ears ago, is quick to credit the musicians
themselves. "The artists are becoming more creative," he offers.
"They're looking at alternative artists and Madonna and Michael
Jackson. It's becoming more competitive visually. So the response to
the ideas and the music changes.
Or does it really change? While some see a definite shift in styles and
attitudes, other industry observers will tell you that, while the
contemporary video scene is more visually intense and certainly more
eyecatching, it is, in many ways just a new, beefed-up version of an
old aesthetic. According to Stephen Hill, director of music programming
at MTV, the new rap visuals are in many ways a throwback, to the
upbeat, colors-soaked party videos of the early and mid- '80s.
Hill cites the pop/rap videos of artists like, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the
Fresh Prince, Kwame and Young MC as being, in their own ways, just as
entertaining and visually fixated (albeit in a cruder, cheaper Form) as
the current milieu.
"When grunge took a hold, the cycle (in hip-hop) turned back to being
more serious, and you had to keep it real," says Hill. "So you had
videos by NWA and Dr. Dre." As he sees it, it is a combination of
talent and the intrinsically fickle and changing nature of pop--and
hip-hop in particular--that helped bring about the era of no-holds-
barred production, dazzling digital effects and cinemascope reality.
BLUNTED ON FISH-EYES
Hunter is blunt when asked whether all of the emphasis on special
effects and technology has possibly gotten a little out of hand. "What
about all the alternative groups?," he asks. "How many videos are we
gonna see with the guys standing behind microphones, playing? I think
it's interesting because [I'm hearing this criticism] a lot. I've heard
that MTV isn't going to play, anymore fish-eye-lens videos. I think
that rap music gets hit really bad when there's something starting to
happen and people start complaining."
Hill too has heard the complaint that all rap videos look alike and,
like Hunter, he takes that beef with a grain of salt. Nothing that
innovation has always been followed by Formula, Hill adds that "There's
a Formula For videos that has worked, over the last couple of years.
And like the [surplus of] videos with pools and women around it, this
one is getting to a point where there are too many. We're coming to a
different saturation point."
Make that color-saturarted point.
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