Jamie Foxx - Just Like Me ft. T.I.

What this video is

Released in November 2008, 'Just Like Me' arrived at the intersection of two dominant late-2000s trends: the Tricky Stewart/The-Dream production house's ascent as the defining sound of mainstream R&B (coinciding with their work on Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' and Rihanna's 'Umbrella'), and the continued commercial dominance of Southern hip-hop through T.I.'s peak popularity. The video's aspirational competitive…

Why it matters

Represents the peak of the Tricky Stewart/The-Dream production era in mainstream R&B, where hip-hop features elevated crossover chart performance. The video exemplifies the late-2000s trend of Hollywood-trained directors (Ratner) bringing cinematic narrative grammar to music video formats,…

The director

Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969, Miami Beach, FL) is an American film director and producer who began his career directing music videos in the 1990s for artists including Mariah Carey and Madonna before making his feature debut with Money Talks (1997). He…