Hip Hop Music Video Suggestions at DVinfo.net

John Locke · January 3rd, 2004, 10:31 AM

Anyone have any recommendations for best hip hop music videos... and hopefully URLs for viewing online?

I'm shooting a hip hop video soon and need to see some examples (being an old guy and having lived overseas the past decade, I've kind of missed out on that trend).

Dylan Couper · January 3rd, 2004, 11:25 AM

Sure. Here are possibly the top 3 hip hop videos of the year.

Shake Your Tailfeathers- Nelly, P. Diddy and Murphy Lee, from the Bad Boys 2 soundtrack. It might be Shake "Ya" Tailfeathers actually. Plenty of A+ booty. This might be the supa-booty video of the year.

P.I.M.P. - 50 Cent. Nice booty in this one, plus it features the king shizzle dizzler, Snoop Dogg.

Thoia Thoing- R. Kelly some martial arts insparation and a bit of sword work, but really a thin diguise for another booty-fest.

Baby Boy- Beyonce and Sean Paul I think. More like soft porn. I'd rather watch this video than a Jenna Jameison flick for, uh, "private entertainment"....

I spent the last 20 years locked in my subterranean labratory analyzing hip hop videos trying to find the perfect formula. Just for you, here it is:
15% Fine cribs
5% Fly rides wit big pimpin rims, 24" spinners, yo
5% Bling
15% Hot b!%ches
55% in ya face booty
5% talent

I just turned on Much Music, and Baby Boy is on right now. gottago.

Barry Gribble · January 3rd, 2004, 11:36 AM

There is a Director's Label set of music video DVDs out there that you may want to look at ... I got the one for Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation)... truthfully I wasn't wildly impressed, but he seems to have done well for himself :). It was only $16. He has quite a few hip-hoppy videos on it... might be worth a look.

My impetus was the same as yours... not having MTV and wanting to catch up on the aesthetic...

John Locke · January 3rd, 2004, 12:08 PM

Oh man...why couldn't Duran Duran or Cyndi Lauper have called me? Gulp.

Okay...homework to do. Thanks guys.

Christopher C. Murphy · January 3rd, 2004, 12:29 PM

Hey, I have a few suggestions because I shot a music video for a girl group a few years ago...dance/hip hop type stuff.

Color is everything nowadays. Here is what I did to create maximum impact with little money..

- Find a great location with lots of angles that are dark. The one I chose was a "storage" place where everyone throws their junk. You know, the places that are orange on the outside? I went in there because it had like 3 floors, all the halls were lined with huge round tubes (aquiducts?), lots of weird colors like orange and red....also, there was TONS of places to put aluminum foil. I took 4 rolls of it and lined everything in sight, so it had this spaceship quailty...and then lite the whole thing. It was cool...looked like a $1,000,000 set...cost me about $50 total.

- Intercut the entire video with different locations that use different settings on your camera. Also, I learned this trick...buy or rent (or borrow) really cheap cameras...like 10 of them. Give them to everyone on set and in the band (or artist). Afterwords in post just shuttle through and you'll pick out some unique shots that people had...and before you give them the camera...give them a mission. Like, tell someone "you get low angles only" then someone you tell.."close ups on people faces only". That way you know you'll have seperate stuff.

Also, I'd do a few insanely different things if you can. Maybe get a lipstick camera and put it on the lead singers head or on the microphone. Anything so when you're in the editing room you have choices.

The last thing is a theme. I chose to have the 2 girls in my video take off in my Jeep down Sunset Blvd...every stop light they picked up people they didn't know until they reached a trendy club. They drove up on the curb all cool...people falling off the sides because so many were crammed on board...they went inside and partied...then later they get kicked out...head down to the beach and infront of a bonfire danced the night away. The Jeep headlights played a part in lighting the beach scene. At the end, everyone was sleeping on the beach while the sun came up.

The beach stuff was intentionally warm...and the driving stuff was normal shooting settings, the industrial setting was metallic like...sorta sharp and hyper reality because of quick shutter speed and lighting. I also sped up the footage in post production.

Oh, by the way...the video was never released. So, feel free to use any of this if you like it.

Good luck my friend...

Murph

Nicholi Brossia · January 3rd, 2004, 02:46 PM

Honestly, Dylan makes a good point. Hip-hop videos are so extremely cliche anymore... with the bling bling and the bump bump booty shakin'. Ironically, The Roots made a video a while back that just made fun of the cliches, and it was a great video (I just wish I could remember the song).
Being "out of the loop" could actually serve as an advantage for this video. One trend that also exists in hip-hop videos is being goofy. I'd recommend watching MTV2 for a couple days and write down all the stuff you find strange, interesting, or even stupid about the videos. Then talk to the artist about making a video that takes those cliches to an extreme. Your "old guy" approach would actually provide a great perspective for the production.

Langston Sessoms · January 7th, 2004, 01:12 AM

The Roots song is called "What They Do"

Adrian Douglas · January 7th, 2004, 05:02 AM

Watch Space Shower or MTV Japan and then do the opposite to what you see there. Japanese hip hop videos are basically just direct rip-offs of American videos, nothing new nothing original. Try to get the 'talent' into something new, something that is them and not wannabe gangsters. Man good luck, it'll be a battle.

Zac Stein · January 7th, 2004, 06:01 PM

John, go to the local strip club, find every girl you can in a bikini, then find a hugh playboy giant swimming pool, then a booty juice dispensor and you are set.

Hip hop video's are hillerious, i would do a take off , and put all the guys in bikini's and girls in the homie clothes and see what happens.

Zac

Adrian Douglas · January 7th, 2004, 06:16 PM

Zac,

that'd fly in Australia but certainly not here in Japan. A video that isn't cool and hip would crash like a lead balloon. Cool style is the big seller here in the land of the super consumer.

Zac Stein · January 7th, 2004, 07:54 PM

There is a film called "Fear of a black hat" it is kind of like spinal tap but with rap, and it really mock's the entire industry, really worth checking out.

Adrian, cool is cool, it all depends on what you want to do with the clip, and the available resources. If you want something super dooper cool it may be difficult to do it straight with DV, most likely going to need to find an interesting post production ploy/effect to maintain a sense of individuality.

I saw a great one where they matted the characters from the clip onto 2d backgrounds, like carbourd cutouts and moved them around within the clip, so sometimes they looked normal, then the camera would move and you would see they were paper thin.

Got to find something interesting to do with it.

Zac

Adrian Douglas · January 7th, 2004, 11:25 PM

Zac,

I hear ya but young Japanese hip audiences don't take the piss very well. Ninety-eight percent of the hip hop videos here are either 'wannbe gangster' sorry 'gangsta', or 'Destiny's Child' copies. Here, look and how you are percieved is everything, it's hard for us Australian's to understand as we for the most don't give a toss what other people think about us. Videos, especially hip hop are the same, if the talent doesn't look cool and like the superstarts they want to be then it won't be popular.

Format can have a lot to do with it as hip hop videos have to look slick and big dollar as that's the image that is sold to the kids here. I'm sure it can be pulled off with DV but it will take a lot of careful planning of lighting and camera movement.

John Hudson · January 8th, 2004, 12:17 AM

I like the aussie take better (In not giving a toss). Hip Hop music is not my thing but the videos just plain suck. Look at me, I'm a gansta!

Whateva'

Mike Butler · January 9th, 2004, 05:41 PM

Dylan, dawg, that's FOUR videos! (Yo!) All top-shelf choices, especially Tailfeather.

John, here's a few more:

Pass the Courvoisier - Busta Rhymes, P. Diddy, Rah Digga, Pharrell. (with a cameo by Mr. T) The best free ad a liquor company ever got.

Welcome to Atlanta - Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg. Funnizzle to the maxizzle. "where the playas play...and the pawty don't stop till 8 in the mawnin'"

Without Me - Eminem. You'll laugh your izzass off as he takes on Dick Cheney, Batman, Osama Bin Laden and more.

Hot In Herre - Nelly. "so take off all your clothes" pretty much says it all. Major bootay in this one.

Word, G, gotta jet now back to the heezy fo' sheezy, y'know the crib, my shorty wants to chill with some gin and juice, she get loose. Happy new yizzle. Have fun makin' yo' vidizzle.

John Hudson · January 10th, 2004, 01:08 PM

I need to stop genralizing. Eminem is cool. I just hate the HH Videos that have:

Ganstas
Shaking Booty (Not a big fan of the BACK) ;)
Large Cribs
Hopping Cars

Those types of videos are more about "Look at me, I'm a bada**" "I am a playa" blah blah blah

It's like, try and be cool without saying "HEY, I am cool". Not only do the songs suck (Poor me, I'm from the hood.......) the videos are always like "I am so cool and a bad mutha".

Doens't anyone want ot be cool and still be humble?

January 3rd, 2004, 10:31 AM	#1
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Hip Hop Music Video Suggestions Anyone have any recommendations for best hip hop music videos... and hopefully URLs for viewing online? I'm shooting a hip hop video soon and need to see some examples (being an old guy and having lived overseas the past decade, I've kind of missed out on that trend). __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

January 3rd, 2004, 11:25 AM	#2
Dylan Couper Wrangler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Vancouver, British Columbia Posts: 8,314	Sure. Here are possibly the top 3 hip hop videos of the year. Shake Your Tailfeathers- Nelly, P. Diddy and Murphy Lee, from the Bad Boys 2 soundtrack. It might be Shake "Ya" Tailfeathers actually. Plenty of A+ booty. This might be the supa-booty video of the year. P.I.M.P. - 50 Cent. Nice booty in this one, plus it features the king shizzle dizzler, Snoop Dogg. Thoia Thoing- R. Kelly some martial arts insparation and a bit of sword work, but really a thin diguise for another booty-fest. Baby Boy- Beyonce and Sean Paul I think. More like soft porn. I'd rather watch this video than a Jenna Jameison flick for, uh, "private entertainment".... I spent the last 20 years locked in my subterranean labratory analyzing hip hop videos trying to find the perfect formula. Just for you, here it is: 15% Fine cribs 5% Fly rides wit big pimpin rims, 24" spinners, yo 5% Bling 15% Hot b!%ches 55% in ya face booty 5% talent I just turned on Much Music, and Baby Boy is on right now. gottago. __________________ Need to rent camera gear in Vancouver BC? Check me out at camerarentalsvancouver.com

January 3rd, 2004, 12:08 PM	#4
John Locke Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Austin, TX USA Posts: 2,882	Oh man...why couldn't Duran Duran or Cyndi Lauper have called me? Gulp. Okay...homework to do. Thanks guys. __________________ John Locke SursumFilms.com

January 3rd, 2004, 12:29 PM	#5
Christopher C. Murphy Trustee Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,707	Hey, I have a few suggestions because I shot a music video for a girl group a few years ago...dance/hip hop type stuff. Color is everything nowadays. Here is what I did to create maximum impact with little money.. - Find a great location with lots of angles that are dark. The one I chose was a "storage" place where everyone throws their junk. You know, the places that are orange on the outside? I went in there because it had like 3 floors, all the halls were lined with huge round tubes (aquiducts?), lots of weird colors like orange and red....also, there was TONS of places to put aluminum foil. I took 4 rolls of it and lined everything in sight, so it had this spaceship quailty...and then lite the whole thing. It was cool...looked like a $1,000,000 set...cost me about $50 total. - Intercut the entire video with different locations that use different settings on your camera. Also, I learned this trick...buy or rent (or borrow) really cheap cameras...like 10 of them. Give them to everyone on set and in the band (or artist). Afterwords in post just shuttle through and you'll pick out some unique shots that people had...and before you give them the camera...give them a mission. Like, tell someone "you get low angles only" then someone you tell.."close ups on people faces only". That way you know you'll have seperate stuff. Also, I'd do a few insanely different things if you can. Maybe get a lipstick camera and put it on the lead singers head or on the microphone. Anything so when you're in the editing room you have choices. The last thing is a theme. I chose to have the 2 girls in my video take off in my Jeep down Sunset Blvd...every stop light they picked up people they didn't know until they reached a trendy club. They drove up on the curb all cool...people falling off the sides because so many were crammed on board...they went inside and partied...then later they get kicked out...head down to the beach and infront of a bonfire danced the night away. The Jeep headlights played a part in lighting the beach scene. At the end, everyone was sleeping on the beach while the sun came up. The beach stuff was intentionally warm...and the driving stuff was normal shooting settings, the industrial setting was metallic like...sorta sharp and hyper reality because of quick shutter speed and lighting. I also sped up the footage in post production. Oh, by the way...the video was never released. So, feel free to use any of this if you like it. Good luck my friend... Murph __________________ Christopher C. Murphy Director, Producer, Writer

January 3rd, 2004, 02:46 PM	#6
Nicholi Brossia Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 389	Honestly, Dylan makes a good point. Hip-hop videos are so extremely cliche anymore... with the bling bling and the bump bump booty shakin'. Ironically, The Roots made a video a while back that just made fun of the cliches, and it was a great video (I just wish I could remember the song). Being "out of the loop" could actually serve as an advantage for this video. One trend that also exists in hip-hop videos is being goofy. I'd recommend watching MTV2 for a couple days and write down all the stuff you find strange, interesting, or even stupid about the videos. Then talk to the artist about making a video that takes those cliches to an extreme. Your "old guy" approach would actually provide a great perspective for the production. __________________ Nicholi Brossia

January 3rd, 2004, 11:36 AM	#3
Barry Gribble Major Player Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 817	There is a Director's Label set of music video DVDs out there that you may want to look at ... I got the one for Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation)... truthfully I wasn't wildly impressed, but he seems to have done well for himself :). It was only $16. He has quite a few hip-hoppy videos on it... might be worth a look. My impetus was the same as yours... not having MTV and wanting to catch up on the aesthetic...

January 7th, 2004, 01:12 AM	#7
Langston Sessoms Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: NY Posts: 83	The Roots song is called "What They Do"

January 7th, 2004, 05:02 AM	#8
Adrian Douglas Trustee Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Chigasaki, Japan. Posts: 1,660	Watch Space Shower or MTV Japan and then do the opposite to what you see there. Japanese hip hop videos are basically just direct rip-offs of American videos, nothing new nothing original. Try to get the 'talent' into something new, something that is them and not wannabe gangsters. Man good luck, it'll be a battle. __________________ Adrian DVInfo.net Search for quick answers Where to buy? From the best in the business...DVInfo.net sponsors

January 7th, 2004, 06:01 PM	#9
Zac Stein Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 730	John, go to the local strip club, find every girl you can in a bikini, then find a hugh playboy giant swimming pool, then a booty juice dispensor and you are set. Hip hop video's are hillerious, i would do a take off , and put all the guys in bikini's and girls in the homie clothes and see what happens. Zac

January 7th, 2004, 06:16 PM	#10
Adrian Douglas Trustee Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Chigasaki, Japan. Posts: 1,660	Zac, that'd fly in Australia but certainly not here in Japan. A video that isn't cool and hip would crash like a lead balloon. Cool style is the big seller here in the land of the super consumer. __________________ Adrian DVInfo.net Search for quick answers Where to buy? From the best in the business...DVInfo.net sponsors

January 7th, 2004, 07:54 PM	#11
Zac Stein Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 730	There is a film called "Fear of a black hat" it is kind of like spinal tap but with rap, and it really mock's the entire industry, really worth checking out. Adrian, cool is cool, it all depends on what you want to do with the clip, and the available resources. If you want something super dooper cool it may be difficult to do it straight with DV, most likely going to need to find an interesting post production ploy/effect to maintain a sense of individuality. I saw a great one where they matted the characters from the clip onto 2d backgrounds, like carbourd cutouts and moved them around within the clip, so sometimes they looked normal, then the camera would move and you would see they were paper thin. Got to find something interesting to do with it. Zac

January 7th, 2004, 11:25 PM	#12
Adrian Douglas Trustee Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Chigasaki, Japan. Posts: 1,660	Zac, I hear ya but young Japanese hip audiences don't take the piss very well. Ninety-eight percent of the hip hop videos here are either 'wannbe gangster' sorry 'gangsta', or 'Destiny's Child' copies. Here, look and how you are percieved is everything, it's hard for us Australian's to understand as we for the most don't give a toss what other people think about us. Videos, especially hip hop are the same, if the talent doesn't look cool and like the superstarts they want to be then it won't be popular. Format can have a lot to do with it as hip hop videos have to look slick and big dollar as that's the image that is sold to the kids here. I'm sure it can be pulled off with DV but it will take a lot of careful planning of lighting and camera movement. __________________ Adrian DVInfo.net Search for quick answers Where to buy? From the best in the business...DVInfo.net sponsors

January 8th, 2004, 12:17 AM	#13
John Hudson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 32° 44' N 117° 10' W Posts: 820	I like the aussie take better (In not giving a toss). Hip Hop music is not my thing but the videos just plain suck. Look at me, I'm a gansta! Whateva'

January 9th, 2004, 05:41 PM	#14
Mike Butler Machinist Mate Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Southern Connecticut Posts: 644	Dylan, dawg, that's FOUR videos! (Yo!) All top-shelf choices, especially Tailfeather. John, here's a few more: Pass the Courvoisier - Busta Rhymes, P. Diddy, Rah Digga, Pharrell. (with a cameo by Mr. T) The best free ad a liquor company ever got. Welcome to Atlanta - Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg. Funnizzle to the maxizzle. "where the playas play...and the pawty don't stop till 8 in the mawnin'" Without Me - Eminem. You'll laugh your izzass off as he takes on Dick Cheney, Batman, Osama Bin Laden and more. Hot In Herre - Nelly. "so take off all your clothes" pretty much says it all. Major bootay in this one. Word, G, gotta jet now back to the heezy fo' sheezy, y'know the crib, my shorty wants to chill with some gin and juice, she get loose. Happy new yizzle. Have fun makin' yo' vidizzle. __________________ I ain't straight outta Compton, I'm straight out the trailer. Cuss like a sailor, drink like a Mc. My only words of wisdom are just, "Radio Edit."

January 10th, 2004, 01:08 PM	#15
John Hudson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 32° 44' N 117° 10' W Posts: 820	I need to stop genralizing. Eminem is cool. I just hate the HH Videos that have: Ganstas Shaking Booty (Not a big fan of the BACK) ;) Large Cribs Hopping Cars Those types of videos are more about "Look at me, I'm a bada**" "I am a playa" blah blah blah It's like, try and be cool without saying "HEY, I am cool". Not only do the songs suck (Poor me, I'm from the hood.......) the videos are always like "I am so cool and a bad mutha". Doens't anyone want ot be cool and still be humble?