98º - Because Of You

What this video is

Released in September 1998 as the second single from '98 Degrees and Rising' on Motown Records, 'Because of You' arrived at the absolute apex of the late-1990s boy band phenomenon, sandwiched chronologically between the Backstreet Boys' 'Everybody' era and *NSYNC's breakout. The video's San Francisco location shooting gave it a distinctly aspirational, West Coast romanticism rare among contemporaries who favored…

Why it matters

A canonical example of late-1990s pop-R&B ballad video production — slow editorial pace (23.4s avg shot), warm color temperature, and San Francisco location grandeur establish an emotional register that defined the boy band power ballad format on MTV TRL. Represents Wayne Isham's successful pivot…

The director

Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958, Vinita, Oklahoma) is an American film and music video director with over 200 credited projects since the 1980s. A UC Santa Barbara alumnus, he cited David Bowie's 'Ashes to Ashes' as his career inspiration. He is among the…