Busta Rhymes ft. Janet Jackson - What's It Gonna Be？! [Explicit]

What this video is

Released in March 1999 at the apex of MTV's TRL era, 'What's It Gonna Be?!' represents the convergence of peak-budget hip-hop video production and mainstream R&B superstar crossover. The collaboration between Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson united two of the era's most visually inventive performers under Hype Williams' maximalist directorial vision, producing one of the most technically ambitious music videos of the…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of hip-hop/R&B crossover maximalism, demonstrating how the late-90s video era elevated the music video to a prestige cinematic format. Hype Williams' signature techniques — fisheye lenses, digital morphing, Afrofuturist staging — are fully synthesized here, making this video a…

The director

Harold 'Hype' Williams (b. August 1, 1970, Queens, NY) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He attended Adelphi University and launched his career through graffiti art before transitioning into music video direction via Classic Concepts…