Christopher Williams - Talk To Myself

What this video is

Released in 1989 as the debut single from Christopher Williams' debut album Adventures in Paradise on Geffen Records, 'Talk to Myself' arrived at the precise moment new jack swing was reshaping mainstream R&B. Williams, a Virginia-born singer and arranger, represented a strand of the movement that retained smooth-soul vocal gravitas while adopting the era's kinetic production style. The song charted at #88 on the…

Why it matters

Represents the late-80s smooth R&B wing of new jack swing — a counterpoint to harder, hip-hop-adjacent variants. Williams' debut demonstrated that major labels (Geffen) were willing to invest in polished, high-production-value videos for Black R&B artists as a mainstream crossover vehicle,…

The director

Swiss-born director/editor who attended the London Film School in the late 1970s. Joined MGMM Productions London in 1983, directing his first MTV commercial. Signed with EMI/Picture Music International in 1986. Relocated to Los Angeles in 1989, signing with…