Longevity, integrity and compromise are hard things to maintain in the music industry. Just ask MC Hammer, or Vanilla Ice, or a laundry list of other artists who were at the top of Billboard and the pop culture world at some point in their careers. But don’t tell that to Cypress Hill. Selling over 18 million records and having a career spanning 3 decades (the late 80s, 90s, and 2000s), they are still going strong and preparing for the release of their upcoming eighth studio album "Rise Up" coming out on Priority Records. They’ve been able to achieve all of this while keeping their hard edge, rebellious attitude and bucking commercial trends. This week’s video breakdown is Cypress Hill’s “Rock Superstar”.
Directed by music video and photography veteran Dean Karr, "Rock Superstar" is the epitome of the late '90s early 2000s in terms of video style. Big budgets, real fire, amazing set design and poor (by today’s standards) computer graphics, which at the time cost a boatload to create are just some of the trappings that come with this piece that aptly represent a certain time in the music and music video industries.Karr is no stranger to gritty and hardcore music starting off directing videos for Marilyn Manson, Danzig and shooting covers for MC Ren and The Penthouse Players Clique.
As I mentioned, the strength of the video lies in the elaborate varied set construction and design, which are visually interesting, epic and truly make the video stand out from other videos. The skull doorways, cabaret dancers on stage, the metallic performance stage and Fidel Castro style podium are just a few of the interesting visual locations created with clever production design and little else.
The one sore thumb that sticks out and does not stand the test of time (unlike Cypress Hill’s music, which still does) is the computer graphics. They look laughable by today’s standards and would be considered cheesy if duplicated today. Karr and the group obviously get a pass on this, however, as they obviously had to work with the technology available at the time.
Light one up, kick back and watch Cypress Hill’s “Rock Superstar”. You’d be hard pressed to find another video with dope lyrics, explosions, a mountain of television sets, and a mosh pit all wrapped into the same video.
Public Enemy said it best: don’t believe the hype. Urban music and culture has found a home online, but with the explosion of new content appearing online everyday, it’s become difficult to separate what’s real with what’s just hype.
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