This 90s anthem was filmed at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. Though it might be hard to believe today, a music video that featured people openly celebrating smoking weed was something that still took a lot of people by surprise in 1994.
Director Josh Taft worked with just about everyone in the 90s. Taft has directed videos for Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, Mad Season, and Fuel. Taft has also worked as a commercial director, doing ads for Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Energizer, Sprite and Nissan Xterra. In 2013, he directed a documentary called Alive & Well, which profiled 7 individuals living with Huntington’s Disease.
Prior to finding this one, I really only knew Cypress Hill from the early 90s with songs like Insane In The Brain. I picked this up later on. This is the first time I really watched the music video, and somebody is a fan of the music video for The Tubes’ She’s A Beauty, complete with including the rollercoaster entrance. Actually this song reminds me of The Tubes in general. In particular, the song What Do You Want From Life?
The video is what you would expect from a song about musicians getting launched into the stratosphere, then the next minute thrown back to Earth without any regard to what happened or happens to them. You might have been the creative one, but you are just a small person surrounded by the big people who are going to make or break you. The part where he is tiny and with big desks around him made me think of The Crowd (1928) that has inspired countless films over the years.
My favorite part is easily when he climbs the pyramid of televisions. That’s where the biggest difference between (Rock) Superstar and (Rap) Superstar is located in the music videos.
During that part, we get a different set of commentaries than we do in (Rock) Superstar. There are obviously other differences between the two since (Rap) Superstar comes in 24 seconds shorter than (Rock) Superstar. One of them is that in (Rock) Superstar, the kid is flung out and the music video stops with him mid-air, while in (Rap) Superstar we seem him land and smiling. We also get some commentary from Eminem at the beginning of the video as well.
Between the two, I prefer (Rock) Superstar. It feels like the more polished version of the two, but it’s definitely worth watching both of them.
Director Dean Karr seems to have done about 60-80 music videos and other music related films.
Dermott Downs shot the music video. He’s done about 10 music videos. He’s also done numerous other things including directing episodes of Arrow, Supergirl, and The Flash. It’s funny that he worked on the third Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie considering that the person who shot The Tubes’ music video for She’s A Beauty also shot the original and 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Arthur Gorson produced the music video. He produced around 20 music videos. He’s also worked on various other films including producing Cronos (1993) for Guillermo del Toro.
Joe Oz was the 1st assistant director. He seems to have worked on about 140 music videos.
Trish Summerville was the stylist on the video. She seems to have done at least 25 music videos. She has also worked on films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), and Gone Girl (2014).
Through the Shattered Lens 