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."