Teyana Taylor pays tribute to innovative music video director Hype Williams in her new visual for HYWI?, her latest single featuring the rapper King Combs.
The video, directed by Taylor herself (credited as Teyana Spike Tee Taylor), references the hip-hop and R&B videos of the late Nineties and early aughts, particularly those by prolific director Hype Williams. Video credits are displayed at the beginning and end of the clip just like it would be if it were airing on MTV and Taylors gender-flipping fashion matches the style of the era. The opening is a direct, gender-bent reference to LL Cool Js Doin It, and the scene in the blue room pays homage to both Doin It and Toni Braxtons Just Be a Man About It.Theres even a staged recreation of the iconic fish-eye tunnel seen in the Williams video for the Notorious B.I.G.s Mo Money Mo Problems featuring Mase and Puff Daddy.
Taylor previously released the video for Issues/Hold On, a track from her 2018 albumK.T.S.E. featuring A$AP Rocky, as well as the NSFW clip for WTP, featuring a slew of queer artists and performers. This week, she was announced as a guest vocalist on Rick Rosss forthcoming album Port of Miami 2.