NEW VIDEO: Swizz Beats - When I Step In The Club (dir: Hype Williams - BRAND FUNDED)

Hype Williams is top of my list of music video directors.

His videos are always interesting and often groundbreaking. I'm sure there are loads of copycats who took their fish-eye inspiration from early Hype videos. Some of my personal fave clips include Kanye's 'Gold Digger', Beyonce's 'Check On It', and my absolute all-time fave - Missy Elliot's 'The Rain'

Missy Elliot - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Uploaded by eikichi

The newest release from Hype is the video for Swizz Beats' new one - 'When I Step In The Club'.



I loved what he did with the movement of limbs in this clip. I liked the colours with loads of purples and blacks... and then I looked at the name of the person who uploaded this clip to YouTube - Hennessy. As in the cognac.

Even Kanye blogged about this clip - but as with all the other blogs I've been reading, he made no mention of Hennessy. After a bit more digging, I found that this clip has been released in conjunction with the launch of the Hennessy Black Cognac - for which an event was held in a New York club last night. Turns out that Swizz wrote the track specifically for the brand too. I wonder if they've tried to keep this all under wraps, or if music bloggers just aren't interested in this brand tie-in?

According to Billboard, there is more activity coming to support this promotion. "Hennessy will launch a dance contest titled "Up/Down" on their YouTube channel, where consumers will be able to create and post their own "Up/Down" dance for a chance to be flown to LA, where Williams will film and cut them into a new version of the video to "When I Step In the Club."

In addition, to push the comp, Hennessy have been hiring professional dancers to break out into original UP/DOWN dance routines in clubs around the US when the track gets played. Following the dance, consumers are then handed an all-black business card which directs them to the Hennesy Black website. It's kind of like holding multiple mini flash mobs.