Hype Williams sat down with Jeff “Chairman” Mao for the Red Bull Music Festival New York. The two discussed his legendary career in hip-hop. The discussion included Williams sharing why his work with Queen Bey are the best.
“My favorite person to work with artistically, in case anybody cared, is Beyoncé,” said Hype. “The reason I say Beyoncé, obviously because of who she is, but more so she just works harder than me.”
In this conversation as part of Red Bull Music Festival New York 2018, hosted at the AMC Empire 25 cinema, the Queens native looked back on the early days of his career, working with Bad Boy Records, Missy Elliott and Beyoncé and what it took to leave his mark on the culture.
“Hype” Williams first made his name as a music video director in the ’90s, with a flamboyant and daring style perfectly in sync with hip-hop in its commercial ascendancy. His landmark visuals for Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Puffy, Mase and Tupac indelibly pushed rap iconography to new levels of maximalism, while collaborations with the Notorious B.I.G., Craig Mack, Wu-Tang Clan, DMX and others remain testaments to the poetry of simplicity. Today, Williams endures as a creative benchmark and go-to for artists with a vision – be they Beyoncé, Kanye West or Jack White.
The Hip-Hop Foodie 