Art-Hop Episode 3: My Hat's Real Low

Artist: Jay-Z

Song: "99 Problems"

Album: The Black Album

Director: Mark Romanek

This song is probably in my Top 3 Jay-Z songs. The video? My favorite Jay video, hands down. It's gets no better than this. Jay driving around NYC with Rick Rubin riding shotgun seals the deal for me. Vincent Gallo? What the heck is he doing, arbitrarily walking around Brooklyn??? I don't know, but he looks cool doing it.

Outside of the cop scene, there really isn't a narrative to this video. It's just a bunch beautifully shot scenes edited together.

Who knew that a well placed Slayer sample, coupled with Jiggaman & Rick Rubin hanging out in BK, could make for a visually interesting video?

P.S. All of these picks won't be B&W (or from 10 years ago). I'll post some artsy Hip-Hop vids shot in color (AND made in recent years).

I just have to look really hard.

Art-Hop Episode 2: End Of The D.A.I.S.Y. Age

Artist: De La Soul

Song: "Ring Ring Ring"

Album: De La Soul Is Dead

Enough can't be said about this album. The trio--that ushered in esoteric rhymes and images of peace, love and flowers--skillfully "killed" their former image on their sophomore set, De La Soul Is Dead.

The first single from that album, "Ring Ring Ring" speaks to achieving a level of fame and then being plied with demo tapes from up & coming musicians. The video features stark black & white photography with allusions to leaving their old image behind.

This album and its concept was ahead of its time. What HIP-HOP artist, that you know, would discard a multi-million dollar image for the sake of advancing their art?

Don't rush to answer. I'll wait.