This video is a classic. If you aren't familiar with the alternative rap group, The Pharcyde, they rose to prominence in the early 90's with hits such as "Drop" that strayed away from the aggressive gangsta rap of the day. The song is great; it was produced by J Dilla, and features a familiar sample from the Beastie Boys. Ad Rock and Mike D even make an appearance in the video. The video itself is what I want to draw attention to, anyway. The guys from The Pharcyde enlisted Spike Jonze to direct it. He was already making a name for himself by shooting creative videos for bands like Weezer, Dinosaur Jr., and the Beasties. Spike would ultimately go on to direct movies like Being John Malkovich and Where The Wild Things Are as well as produce for the Jackass series.
Back in 1996, though, Spike gave The Pharcyde a straightforward video premise: they take a reversed version of their track, shoot the music video backwards, and then reverse it again to give the final product. It was brilliant because the band would appear to be doing impossible things because of a simple camera trick, but creative types rarely settle for the easiest route. In order to make it seem more realistic, Spike wanted the guys to memorize the words to their song backwards so that their lip synching would still match up when the video was played forward. One of the reasons I enjoy hip-hop so much is the linguistic word play. I almost never care about what is being said, but rather how it is being said. So I am very appreciative of the effort The Pharcyde put forth just to make the video work. Essentially, they memorized a totally foreign song and performed that instead.
Hit the jump for Jonze's proposal and a couple of videos that give more insight.
Spike Jonze's original treatment:
The Making Of Pharcyde's "Drop":
Can you imagine making the video for the song in this form? Amazing.
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