LL COOL J - I'm That Type Of Guy

What this video is

Released in 1989 at the peak of the Golden Age of Hip-Hop, this video represents LL Cool J's crossover moment on MTV—demonstrating that rap artists could command high-rotation visual real estate. Def Jam Recordings had by this point established a visual language for hip-hop videos: street-credible settings, bold fashion, and charismatic direct-address performance. The warm-toned, moderately saturated palette…

Why it matters

A landmark single in LL Cool J's catalog and in Def Jam's early MTV-era output, this video helped normalize hip-hop as a mainstream visual medium. Its moderate production pace and warm aesthetic established template conventions that influenced late-80s/early-90s hip-hop video grammar. The song…

The director

Scott Kalvert (August 15, 1964 – March 5, 2014) was an American director born in New York City who earned a film degree from Emerson College in 1985. He won an early MTV video contest as a student, launching a prolific music video career spanning the late…