Essence (November 1999) p.92
MILLENNIUM MEN
by Deborah Gregory
As the clock ticks toward 2000, we're giving a shout-out to seven
brothers who have risen above personal and professional drama to show
us that, with perseverance and a lot of attitude, we can shake up the
next century
HYPE WILLIAMS CINEMA DIRECTOR
VIDEO DIRECTOR--turned-feature-film director Hype Williams, 29, can
tell megastars like Janet Jackson and Will Smith just what works on
film. Why? His seven-figure music-video budgets for Black recording
artists have taken rap to unparalleled cinematic heights. "In the early
nineties when I began, rap videos were harsh and bland compared with
the ones shot for other genres such as R&B. I changed the old images
being used to portray Black life and made them artistic and colorful,"
says Williams, who has helmed videos for musical superstars like Missy
Elliott (The Rain, She's a Bitch, All in My Grill and Hot Boys) and TLC
(No Scrubs and Unpretty). For his first feature film, Belly, released
last year, the Queens, New York, native co-wrote a coming-of-age
gangsta story based in his Hollis 'hood. Though he and his fiancee,
Kiki Turner, are blissfully raising their 9-month-old daughter, Azza,
Williams has his camera's eye on the sci-fi prize: He's currently at
work on a futuristic thriller for New Line Cinema. Says Williams, "When
we were little, it was all about [the film classic] 2001: A Space
Odyssey. Now we're actually living in that time and that's mind-
boggling."
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