Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

What this video is

Released in February 1995, 'This Is How We Do It' was Def Jam Recordings' first R&B single and became a defining artifact of the hip-hop soul era. The song is an explicit tribute to South Central Los Angeles party culture, arriving at the peak of hip-hop's mainstream crossover into pop radio. It displaced Madonna from the Billboard Hot 100 #1 spot and held the position for seven consecutive weeks. Directed by Hype…

Why it matters

A canonical text of hip-hop soul, the genre blending R&B vocal tradition with hip-hop production sensibilities popularized in the early-to-mid 1990s. The track's interpolation of Slick Rick's 'Children's Story' over a Teddy Riley-influenced drumbeat bridges New Jack Swing's rhythmic architecture…

The director

Harold 'Hype' Williams (b. August 1, 1970, Queens, NY) is an American music video and film director, producer, and screenwriter. He attended Adelphi University and began his career as a graffiti artist before transitioning into music video production via…