Eve - Gangsta Lovin' ft. Alicia Keys

What this video is

Released in July 2002, 'Gangsta Lovin'' arrived at the apex of hip-hop's commercial crossover into mainstream pop radio, when artists on Ruff Ryders, Murder Inc., and Interscope were blending hard street credibility with R&B melodicism to maximize chart reach. The collaboration between Eve — a Ruff Ryders signee with an established tough-femme identity — and Alicia Keys, whose debut 'Songs in A Minor' (2001) had…

Why it matters

A landmark early-2000s hip-hop/R&B crossover single, 'Gangsta Lovin'' peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was named the 19th biggest song of 2002 by Billboard. It exemplifies the Murder Inc./Ruff Ryders production aesthetic — rap verses over sample-driven R&B beats — and stands as an early…

The director

Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975, Toronto, Canada), professionally known as Director X and formerly as Little X, is a Canadian music video director of Trinidadian and Swiss descent. He began his career as an intern at MuchMusic before becoming a…