Video Breakdown: Nas ft. Puff Daddy “Hate Me Now”

Explosions, controversial imagery and an assault on one of the artist’s managers; just a few of the events surrounding the production of Nas’ 1999 video for the single “Hate Me Now” featuring the man who we now know as Diddy then known as Puff Daddy. Diddy originally filmed a scene where he was crucified as well, but after consulting his Catholic priest he demanded that the scene be removed. When MTV aired a version of the video with Diddy’s crucifixion, he stormed in a rage into the offices of Nas’ then manager Steve Stoute and knocked him over the head with a bottle of champagne. Thankfully, Nas was able to squash the beef between his two business associates and the two are now good friends. The video’s iconic imagery and real world controversy help it stand out as one of the major hip-hop videos of the 1990s and marks what some say is the height of the era of music video excess that has long since passed.



Few artists have such a distinct style that their work can be spotted from a mile away yet still remain fresh and innovative. The urban music video scene was especially devoid of any true sense of auteurship before the emergence of a young director from Hollis Queens by the name of Hype Williams. Williams turned the music video, a quaint promotional tool for musicians into a spectacle and event of its own. People were starting to watch videos because they were a Hype Williams production, not because of the song or the artist in the video. He himself was becoming a celebrity. The hip-hop video king pulls out all of the stops in his classic video for “Hate Me Now”.

The key to this video’s appeal is the grandiosity and excess of the production, which sets it apart from other less elaborate hip-hop videos. Opening with the sound of thunder and the image of rolling clouds, then flashing Hype Williams’, Nas and Puffy’s names across the screen immediately sets the epic tone for the video. We then transition to the silhouette of Nas against a backdrop of flames. The images of Nas portraying Jesus and carrying the cross also provide the viewer with loaded visuals. Jones (Nas) is rapping in front of large pyrotechnical flame rigs and choregraphed explosions are synced with his entrances and exits. Hype’s signature colors and lighting are also present throughout the video as we watch Nas and Puffy perform in the streets in front of a crowd of hundreds of extras and then make their grand slow motion entrance inside the club. The excess continues as Nas and Puffy are both heavily blinged out through the video, wearing huge gold chains and sporting fur coats. Inside the club are scantily clad go-go dancers and a caged white tiger. Puffy is pouring out champagne onto the club floor and then spits into the camera while ranting over the song and screaming while the song plays. By making the video larger than life and employing extensive pyrotechnics, controversial imagery and flashy bling, Hype Williams succeeded when he created the ultimate visual spectacle with his historic video for Nas’ “Hate Me Now”.