JAY-Z Speaks On Working With Hype Williams, Clears ‘Belly’ Rumor In Rare Interview

JAY-Z isn’t a man of many interviews nowadays, but whenever he speaks — we listen!

In a rare interview with Complex‘s Aria Hughes, Hov got candid about his relationship with legendary video director Hype Williams, who he first worked with on his “Can’t Knock The Hustle” visual. Amid the conversation, Jay also cleared the rumor that he was going to play DMX’s character in Belly — which was Williams’ first feature film.

“’Can’t Knock The Hustle’ felt like cinema,” the Roc Nation founder started. “We also have to talk about Malik [Haseen Sayeed], the cinematographer Hype worked with. The cinematography was just so beautiful and the way it was shot it just elevated it to another level. We weren’t spending that sort of money then to finish the pyrotechnics. So when the limousine blows up it’s really janky, you know.”

“But the vision and the cinematography was just beautiful and his eye was just different,” he continued. “The combination between Hype and June [Ambrose] elevated our look and feel. I remember people talking about how great a video it was.”

Speaking to the Hip-Hop music scene during the late ’90’s, early ’00’s, Jigga recalled how a majority of the music videos at that time were directed by the 53-year-old.

“I would say that Hype could take credit for 50 percent of the success of the music at that time. If not 55 percent,” Jay said. “We gave people an audio experience that they imagined in their mind and when he put those visuals to it, it took it to a whole new level. I remember hearing “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” on Hot 97 and thinking this song is crazy. We played it 1,000 times that night. But when I saw the visual, I was like, oh, this is a rock-n-roll record.”

“This is way bigger than a nice club song. This is a cultural moment for us.”

In 1998, Williams decided to exercise his cinematic skills with his debut feature film Belly — which saw appearances from Hip-Hop favorites including Nas, DMX, T-Boz, Method Man, Sean Paul, Mr. Vegas, Vita, Ghostface Killah, AZ, and more.

During Jay’s convo with Complex, he took the liberty to clear up the rumor that he was “supposed” to play DMX’s character of Tommy “Buns/Bundy” Brown, which was fueled by Williams in 2018.

“Everybody pressed for it to be Hov,” Hype said during an interview at ComplexCon. “But at the time, Hov didn’t pop yet. He wasn’t Jay-Z. We were working with Def Jam and it was logical for it to be him [DMX].”

“That’s a rumor,” the 53-year-old explained. “Again, because of how guarded I was, I hated acting. This is why I don’t act, because I would get in my way. I would be thinking, ‘No, I don’t wanna do something that I ain’t gonna look cool.’ But you know, I was young and immature. Or I was young mentally.”

He added, “You know, if you see our own movies — I was in for like 30 seconds and I wasn’t even speaking. I had no idea how Nas did that because I felt like he was in the same place as me. But he did it and he made it work. But I never was meant to be in Belly. I don’t even know where that came from.”

Hov also spoke on Williams’ film career after directing his feature, to which Jay felt “he blew it,” and “wasn’t ready” for that field.

“I felt like Hype wasn’t ready for cinema at the time and I felt like he blew a huge opportunity,” he expressed. “When someone goes from our space to another space, I’m rooting for them. I want them to kill it because they open the door for all of us, right? I don’t know if he took it seriously enough. I don’t know if he was ready for that moment at that time.”

“And I felt like he was so brilliant and I wanted so much more,” he added. “I don’t know the behind-the-scenes of it. I don’t know what the budget was. I don’t know if they stripped down his original ideas. But the final product is a hood classic for us. And we loved it.”

Check out Complex‘s full feature oral history on Hype Williams’ contributions to Hip-Hop here.

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