wyclef jean - another one bites the dust (1998)

What this video is

Released in 1998 as part of the Small Soldiers film soundtrack, this video sits at the intersection of late-90s hip-hop commercialism, classic rock rehabilitation, and the brief but powerful cultural moment of post-Fugees diaspora rap. Wyclef Jean, at this point one of the most commercially ascendant figures in hip-hop following The Fugees' The Score (1996), brought a Haitian-American street sensibility to Queen's…

Why it matters

A landmark late-90s example of the hip-hop remix of classic rock, this video demonstrates the commercial and cultural viability of cross-genre interpolation at the height of soundtrack album culture. It documents the moment when Fugees-era hip-hop had enough mainstream capital to co-opt legacy…

The director

French filmmaker and director born 1963 in Versailles. Began career directing music videos for French rock band Oui Oui before a long-running collaboration with Björk launched his international profile. Known for inventive visual style and surreal mise en…