Outkast - Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 1)

What this video is

Released May 25, 1999, as the third and final single from Outkast's landmark album Aquemini, 'Da Art of Storytellin' (Pt. 1)' arrived at a pivotal moment when Southern hip-hop was asserting its national legitimacy. The single version features Slick Rick — a founding figure of hip-hop narrative lyricism — lending the track an explicit lineage connecting New York old-school storytelling to Atlanta's new Dirty South…

Why it matters

A canonical artifact of conscious Southern rap and the Aquemini era, widely ranked among Outkast's finest work. The song peaked at #67 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart but achieved lasting critical stature — ranked 4th on The Guardian's 20 greatest Outkast songs list (2021) and 9th on The…

The director

Born Gregory Hippolyte Brown (July 12, 1957, Los Angeles). Holds an MFA from Stanford University and graduate film studies from NYU. Transitioned from adult filmmaking in the mid-1980s–mid-1990s to become a prolific music video director from 1996 onward,…