Hype Williams

Early life

Williams was born in Queens. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adelphi University. He first displayed his work by tagging local billboards, storefronts, and playgrounds using HYPE as his graffiti tag. His graffiti style was influenced by artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. His big break came when he began working with Classic Concepts Video Productions. Lionel "Vid Kid" Martin and VJ Ralph McDaniels created Williams' first opportunity with the Filmmakers With Attitude moniker (FWA), which was Williams' first video company.

Career

Music videos

Awards Williams has received for his video work include the Billboard Music Video Award for Best Director of the Year (1996), the Jackson Limo Award for Best Rap Video of the Year (1996) for Busta Rhymes' "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check", the NAACP Image Award (1997), the 8th annual Music Video Production Association Award for Black Music Achievement (1997), MTV Video Music Award in the Best Rap Video (1998) category for Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy wit It", MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video (1999) for TLC's "No Scrubs", and the BET Award for Best Director (2006) for Kanye West's "Gold Digger". In 2006, Williams was honored by MTV with its Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, presented in honor of his achievements as a filmmaker.

In the December 2007 issue of Playboy magazine, Williams shot the photographs for cover subject Kim Kardashian.

In 2008, Williams directed Kanye West's video for "Heartless". He also directed the music video for his single "All of the Lights", which premiered on February 19, 2011.

As of 2014, Kanye West holds the artist record for working the most times with Williams; the two have collaborated on 20 music videos, beginning in 2005 with the music video for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone". Busta Rhymes is second behind West, collaborating with Williams on 16 music videos, beginning with debut solo music video "Everything Remains Raw" / "Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check".

Feature and short films

In 1998, he directed his first and so far his only feature film to date, Belly, starring rappers Nas and DMX, the film released by Artisan Entertainment. In 1999, Williams signed a two-year overall deal with New Line Cinema to produce and direct feature films. His first film with New Line, Mothership, died in development. Later that year, Williams was in negotiations with MTV to develop an animated series which was described as a behind-the-scenes look at the world of music and celebrities. The project also died in development.

In 2000, Williams was hired to direct the Warner Bros. film Speed Racer. He left the project the following year, with the film being released in 2008 under the direction of The Wachowskis.

In 2003, Disney purchased the zombie horror film Thrilla, which Williams wrote. The project died in development, with Gavin Polone attached to produce.

In 2010, Williams was the writer for the Kanye West-directed short film Runaway.

Videography

Main article: Hype Williams videography

References

References

1. (July 29, 2021). "It's official! 🗣Birthday weekend almost here 🦁🦁🦁✨✨✨big BDay shout out to all the Leo's #leogang @liluzivert 👑👑👑BDay coming up quick! 😅🏆🏆🏆".
2. Contreras, Milly. (September 15, 2015). "Honduran Independence Day: America Ferrera, Rocsi Diaz, Satcha Pretto & More Famous Hondureños". Latin Post Company.
3. Birchmeier, Jason. "Artist biography: Hype Williams". [[All Media Network]].
4. (September 6, 2006). "Hip-Hop News: Hip Hop Mega Producer Hype Williams Launches Web Site". Rap News Network.
5. "MTV Video Music Awards 2006". [[MTV]].
6. Jones, Jaleesa M.. (December 16, 2015). "Kim Kardashian throws it back with '07 'Playboy' pics". [[USA Today]].
7. Perpetua, Matthew. (June 16, 2009). "The Greatest Animated Music Videos". [[Rolling Stone (magazine).
8. (February 19, 2011). "Kanye West's 'All of the Lights' Music Video, Featuring Rihanna, Hits the Web". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
9. Hayes, Dade. (October 8, 1999). "Williams inks New Line deal".
10. Basham, David. (October 11, 1999). "Hype Williams Lands Deal To Direct Sci-Fi Film". [[MTV.com]].
11. Lyons, Charles. (October 27, 1999). "MTV toon will get plenty of Hype". [[Variety (magazine).
12. Thompson, Anne. (June 13, 2008). "Why 'Speed Racer' Sputtered". [[Variety (magazine).
13. "Hype and his zombie THRILLA". Mania.com.
14. Kaufman, Gil. (October 7, 2010). "Kanye West Screens 'Runaway' In London". [[MTV.com]].