The Notorious B.I.G. - Sky's The Limit

What this video is

Released eight months after The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder on March 9, 1997, 'Sky's The Limit' arrived as the third and final single from the double album Life After Death — itself released just sixteen days after his death. The video's release in December 1997 transformed a promotional artifact into a cultural eulogy. Spike Jonze's decision to cast child actors as Biggie and his Bad Boy circle reframed the tragedy…

Why it matters

One of hip-hop music video history's most conceptually daring works, 'Sky's The Limit' demonstrated that the genre could sustain auteur-level visual ambition on par with rock and art-pop. Jonze's child-surrogate device influenced subsequent tribute videos and cemented the idea that a rapper's…

The director

Born Adam Spiegel, October 22, 1969, Rockville, Maryland. American filmmaker, actor, and photographer. Began career photographing BMX and skateboard culture; transitioned to music video direction in 1992 with Sonic Youth's '100%'. Rose to prominence with…