Video Director Vashtie Looks Back At Hype Williams’ Film ‘Belly’

16 years ago today, famed music video director Hype Williams made his feature film directing debut with the 1998 cult classic Belly. The film starred DMX and Nas, alongside with Taral Hicks, Method Man, Louie Rankin and T-Boz from TLC. If you're a hip-hop fan, there's a pretty good chance you've seen the movie, and if you haven't you probably should check it out immediately. What made Belly so appealing was its visual design and cinematography, something that Vashtie—a New York based director and Creative Consultant (plus kickass DJ) who directed music videos for the likes of Big K.R.I.T (“Boobie Miles” and “Insomnia”), Joey Bada$$ (“Waves”) and Kendrick Lamar (“ADHD”)—gushes over.

XXL got Vashtie on the phone to take a look back at what made Belly so unique. —As told to Emmanuel C.M.

Vashtie: Every time I watch [Belly] my mouth waters. It sounds weird but I salivate watching it. I went to film school. I'm obsessed with good cinematography and, obviously, direction. Every inch of that movie is satisfaction. [Laughs] The colors are so decadent, the camera movements are so graceful. On top of it you have a roster from everyone like DMX to Nas to T-Boz. The movie influenced me and inspired me. It's perfection. I love that movie.

I [saw] Cinderella as a kid but I didn't grow up on kid movies because my brother and sister were seven years older than me. I saw it in high school with a whole bunch of my homeboys. I can’t remember if it was a bootleg or what. But it wasn’t in the theaters. It was in my boy's living room and I remember watching it and just the end sequence. First of all, the intro and the ending are just so powerful. I think the lights were still off and we’re just sitting there in the dark. We'd never seen anything like that. To see something that was visual candy, we literally sat there for a minute. We were so amazed that we had to regroup.

[One of my favorite scenes is] when they touch down in Jamaica; just the scene of the kids all alongside the car was pretty incredible. When Taral Hicks' character appears in that movie, not only is she stunning, she's like a goddess. Just seeing her body. I was pretty young and I'd never seen a girl's body like that. [Laughs] I was like, "Whoa, I thought I had a body." I clearly did not know. Just seeing her and her skin is glossy and that blue hue on her. Just that alone and seeing her like that [was great].

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