Let me preface this by saying that after almost 22 years of this song, I cannot stand it anymore.
I’m from California, I live here. I can do without hearing this song ever again in my life.
Even on the rare occasions that I do decide to be amongst the peons, if it comes on, I’ll groan but dance. But in my personal time (which is all of my time, quite honestly), fuck no, I will turn the radio off, change the channel if they play a snippet, if the video happens to play on those rare occasions someone plays videos, I will turn. I cannot willingly do it.
Even when pulling up the video for this song, I put it on mute. I didn’t listen to it. I refused.
With that being said, the video is dope as fuck.
What was dope about it?
The Mad Max post-apocalyptic aesthetic full of Black people having one massive fight in the Thunderdome, yes, the actual Thunderdome from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Because people don’t ever think we’ll make it to the future. Our ancestors were the first, we just might be the last. Also, because Hype Williams had the juice.
Hype Williams. Hype Williams had an amazing run. He’s still doing the damn thing, but that initial run, my God.
That Jada Pinkett Smith gave them the idea.
That this video has a “To Be Continued…” at the end of it, and the shit was actually continued.
You know how many videos there are with a “To Be Continued…” at the end and they don’t get continued? I really think motherfuckers were putting that at the end of their videos thinking they were doing big things and they weren’t doing anything but annoying the fuck out of people who expected a continuation of some sort.
The casting: Chris Tucker when he was still funny. Tony Cox, George Clinton, because funk will survive the apocalypse and Roger Troutman on the talk box.
All in all, I cannot stand the song anymore, but this video deserves props if only for the visual.
