Archive 2001.02: May 2001 - July 2001 | back to 2001 Archived News

(July 24, 2001)   2001 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
Yesterday, MTV announced the nominees for its annual MTV Video Music Awards.  Of the 13 Hype Williams-directed videos that were eligible for awards this year, 3 came away with nominations:

***Nomination*** Best Rap Video: "Put It On Me" - Ja Rule feat. Lil' Mo & Vita
***Nomination*** Best Rap Video: "Lay Low" - Snoop Dogg
***Nomination*** Best Video From A Film: "Ain't No Sunshine" - DMX

Notable absentees from the nominees list this year include Busta Rhymes's Fire and DMX/Sisqo's What You Want, both of which got a lot of airplay on the music channel.  The awards will be handed out on September 7.

(July 17, 2001)   MORE INFO ON VITA & LEFT EYE VIDEOS | HYPE SHOOTS GINUWINE VIDEO
MTV.com revealed more info on the new Vita video that was shot late last week in Los Angeles by Hype Williams.  The video is for her remake of Madonna's Justify My Love, and is described as being similar theme-wise to Janet Jackson's That's The Way Love Goes video, but "hotter".

The Left-Eye video The Block Party (shot early last week in Los Angeles) was shot by Hype Williams and long-time collaborator, cinematographer Malik Sayeed.  The video was shot in a soundstage, with the action filmed against green-screen walls and floors.  The background and additional elements would be added later by the special effects team.
(thanks to Wendell for the info)

It has also been reported that Hype shot a new Ginuwine video last week.

It has been reported that Hype shot a new video for Vita at the La Meridien hotel in Los Angeles this past Friday.

(July 6, 2001)   NEW LEFT EYE VIDEO | BUSTA VIDEO PREMIERES | "LAY LOW" DVD SINGLE
More news has come in on the new Left Eye video that Hype Williams is working on.  The video is for the first track off Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes's first solo album Supernova.  The video is for the track The Block Party, and is scheduled to be shot in Los Angeles on July 9-10.

The new Busta Rhymes feat. Kelis video What It Is premiered this past Wednesday on BET's 106 & Park.  Busta appeared on the show to introduce the video, which he calls a "Woo Hah" for the year 2001.  The track appears on the upcoming Violator vol. 2 compilation album.  The video is expected to premiere this week on MTV as well.
(thanks to Robin for the info)

I was searching online music stores the other day when I came across a DVD single for Snoop Dogg's Lay Low, released by No Limit Records.  There was no track listing for the single, but I'm assuming that it contains the music video (directed by Hype Williams) and possibly some extras as well.

(July 4, 2001)   NEW LEFT EYE VIDEO | MOUNTAIN DEW COMMERCIAL LINKS | MTV VMA 2001
Hype Williams is currently working on a new video for Left Eye of TLC

MountainDew.com has posted Real Video and Windows Media streaming links to the Hype Williams-directed Mountain Dew commercial which features Busta Rhymes in a Mad-Max type of setting (similar to 2pac's California Love video).  Busta and his gang race to deliver a shipment of Mountain Dew to a party in the desert:

Real Video (low) | Real Video (high) | Windows Media (low) | Windows Media (high)

Last week, MTV.com opened a new section on its site dedicated to the upcoming 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.  The new section contains an area where you can vote for the nominees in the Viewers Choice & MTV2 categories, as well as a complete list of all eligible videos.  To be eligible, the videos must be played on MTV at least once between June 8, 2001 and June 7, 2001.  Of the 400 or so videos played on MTV this past year, 13 were directed by Hype Williams.  Of these videos, expect nominations for Fire (Busta Rhymes), What You Want (DMX), & Put It On Me (Ja Rule); these videos received alot of airplay on MTV this past year.  Lay Low (Snoop Dogg) & Put It On Me (Ja Rule) are two of 20 videos in contention for being nominated for the Viewers Choice award.  The nominations should be announced sometime in mid to late July, and the awards are scheduled to be handed out September 6, 2001.

(June 18, 2001)   HYPE WILLIAMS DIRECTS THE SOURCE AWARDS
It was announced early last week that Hype Williams will serve as creative director to this summer's Source Awards, which will take place this August 2001 in Miami.  Although the actual date of the awards show has not been announced yet, the UPN network plans to air the show on August 28.  Hype will be responsible for the concepts and presentation of the performances throughout the show.

(June 11, 2001)   HYPE WILLIAMS SHOOTS NEW BUSTA/KELIS VIDEO
According to MTV.com, Hype Williams shot the new Busta Rhymes feat. Kelis video What It Is this past Wednesday.  The video, for the first single from the upcoming Violator v2.0 compilation, also features Noreaga.  The video has been described as "a new-millennium performance video".
(thanks to DaViD for the info)

(May 15, 2001)   HYPE WILLIAMS FEATURED IN DR. PEPPER AD | NEW BABYFACE VIDEO PREMIERES
Hype Williams is usually behind the cameras photographing celebrities, but in a new Dr. Pepper print ad, Hype himself is the celebrity being photographed and featured.  The Dr. Pepper print advertisement featuring Hype Williams is in the June 2001 Vibe magazine (with Missy Elliott on the cover).
(thanks to JB for the info)

Babyface was on BET's 106 & Park yesterday to premiere his brand new video There She Goes (dir: Hype Williams).  The video is a very colorful video and uses the white "milkbox" bars at the top and bottom of the screen (similar to Wyclef Jean's It Doesn't Matter video).  LIke Wylcef's video, it also features Babyface against a plain white background in several shots.  You can notice a heavy influence from the fashion world in the way the video was shot and styled, with the use of colorful backdrops and models on the runway.  There is also a cool way the shots are edited and sequenced together.
(thanks to Robin for the info)

(May 8, 2001)   HYPE SHOOTS NEW MOUNTAIN DEW COMMERCIAL FEATURING BUSTA RHYMES
A new Hype Williams-directed commercial for Mountain Dew featuring Busta Rhymes has recently begun airing on television.  The commercial looks very similar to Hype's 1996 video California Love (2pac), which was inspired by the film Mad Max: Beyond The Thunderdome.

(May 4, 2001)   HYPE SHOOTS NEW BABYFACE VIDEO
Hype Williams was in New York recently to shoot a new video for Babyface, There She Goes, off his upcoming Arista Records album.
(thanks to JB for the info)