LL Cool J - Doin' It - YouTube

What this video is

Released February 20, 1996 as the second single from LL Cool J's sixth album Mr. Smith (Def Jam Recordings), 'Doin' It' arrived at a pivotal moment when explicit hip-hop was crossing into mainstream pop radio. Produced by Rashad Smith and built on a sample of Grace Jones' 1983 'My Jamaican Guy,' the track peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, marking a major commercial resurgence…

Why it matters

A landmark mid-90s hip-hop/R&B crossover single, 'Doin' It' exemplifies the genre's commercial peak on Def Jam. Its Hype Williams-directed video is a canonical example of 1990s hip-hop visual aesthetics, cementing both LL Cool J's commercial revival and Williams' status as the defining music video…

The director

Harold 'Hype' Williams (born August 1, 1970, Queens, NY) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter who attended Adelphi University. He is widely regarded as the defining hip-hop music video director of the 1990s, known for fish-eye lenses,…