Ja Rule - Mesmerize ft. Ashanti ft. Ashanti

What this video is

Released in December 2002 at the apex of Murder Inc. Records' commercial reign, 'Mesmerize' arrived during one of the most commercially dominant periods in early-2000s hip-hop and R&B. The Ja Rule / Ashanti duet format had already produced multiple top-10 Billboard hits, and this single peaked at number two on the Hot 100 in February 2003. The video's Grease-inspired narrative — a hip-hop bad boy softened by love,…

Why it matters

This video is a primary artifact of the early-2000s hip-hop R&B crossover movement, representing the commercial and aesthetic peak of the Murder Inc. Records sound. The Grease homage marks an early example of hip-hop videos self-consciously referencing classic American pop cinema to achieve…

The director

Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (born June 26, 1970, Hollis, Queens, NY; died February 5, 2025) was an American DJ, record executive, music producer, and director. He co-founded Murder Inc. Records as a Def Jam imprint in 1998, launching the careers of Ja Rule…