Jay-Z is one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time, but he didn’t achieve that status overnight. He had to hustle hard and work with talented people who shared his vision and helped him elevate his craft. One of those people was Hype Williams, the legendary music video director who has worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B.
In a rare interview with Complex, Jay-Z opened up about his first collaboration with Williams for the 1996 single “Can’t Knock the Hustle” featuring Mary J. Blige, which was also the lead track from his debut album Reasonable Doubt. The song sampled a dialogue from the classic crime film Scarface, and the video followed suit with a mob-inspired theme that showcased Jay-Z’s lavish and dangerous lifestyle.
“‘Can’t Knock The Hustle’ felt like cinema,” Jay-Z told Complex. “We also have to talk about Malik [Haseen Sayeed], the cinematographer Hype worked with. The cinematography was just so beautiful and the way it was shot it just elevated it to another level. We weren’t spending that sort of money then to finish the pyrotechnics. So when the limousine blows up it’s really janky, you know. But the vision and the cinematography was just beautiful and his eye was just different. The combination between Hype and June [Ambrose] elevated our look and feel. I remember people talking about how great a video it was.”
Jay-Z also credited Williams for being responsible for 50 percent of the success of the music at that time, as he brought the audio experience to life with stunning visuals that captured the culture and mood of the era. He cited Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” as an example of how Williams transformed a club song into a rock-n-roll record with his creative direction.
Jay-Z and Williams would go on to work together on several more videos, such as “Big Pimpin'”, “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)”, “Girls, Girls, Girls”, and “Excuse Me Miss”. However, Jay-Z denied the rumor that he was supposed to play DMX’s role in Williams’ debut feature film Belly, which also starred Nas, T-Boz, Method Man, and others.
“That’s a rumor,” Jay-Z said. “I never auditioned for Belly. I never read a script for Belly. I never had a conversation with Hype about Belly.”¹
Jay-Z also revealed that he was initially mad at Williams for quoting him $1.8 million for the video for “Sunshine”, which he thought was too expensive and not worth it. However, he later apologized to Williams and admitted that he was wrong.
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