Mary J. Blige - Everything

What this video is

Released in August 1997 as the third single from Share My World — Mary J. Blige's commercially triumphant third album, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 'Everything' reached number five on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number six on the UK Singles Chart, marking Blige's first UK top-ten hit. The song samples The Stylistics' 'You Are Everything' (1971) and James Brown's 'The Payback' (1973),…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of mid-90s hip-hop soul's commercial peak. Produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the track demonstrates how soul sample interpolation became the sonic backbone of prestige R&B in 1997. Combined with Hype Williams' cinematic location directing, the video encapsulates the genre's…

The director

Harold 'Hype' Williams (born August 1, 1970, Queens, NY) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter who attended Adelphi University. Widely regarded as the seminal hip-hop music video director of the 1990s, his visual signature includes fisheye…