Dear Hype Williams

As inspired by @itsThiz.. Make sure you check out The Interludes for great hip-hop articles.

Now that Lil Tunechi is out of Rikers, it was imperative that the NOLA native got his image back on the scene. The interwebs received his single '6 Foot, 7 Foot' featuring Cory Gunz (at least Wayne didn't jerk Cory out of another platinum feature) warmly, and it was only natural that there needed to be a video to accompany the madness that is Weezy's return. Of all directors, I suppose it made the most sense to hire you, Hype Williams for the job of visually resurrecting Wayne's career. Yet, upon further review of your latest directorial offerings, I'm drawing a few head-scratchers.

The video for 'All of the Lights' had none of the budget and induced more Pokemon-esque seizures than it made fans. While Nicki Minaj's 'Massive Attack' was a frisbee from jump, your visuals did little more than confuse the viewer. Sure there was 'Empire State of Mind', but anyone can juxtapose shots of Alicia Keys and Jigga performing with epic shots of NYCers in all their working-class glory. The megahit 'Forever' with Drake, Ye, Wayne and Eminem was little more than a remake of every club scene, and there's been little to write home about other than those. To tell you the truth, Hype, little if anything has hit as hard as your earliest videos.

Hype, your M.O. in directing has always been larger-than-life productions, combined with colorful scenery, and different cinematic viewpoints. '6 Foot, 7 Foot' is a far cry from the visually stunning cuts for tracks like 'Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See', 'Woo-Hah' or 'Down Low'. Hell, you didn't even scratch the fish-eyed lensed, trippy heels of Ma$e's 'Feel So Good' or the almost-macabre grittiness in DMX's 'Get At Me Dog'.

The video for '6 Foot, 7 Foot' is tame at best, for what is an adversely hectic track. Your references to the movie 'Inception' were well-intentioned, but sloppily undergone. Rather than go over-the-top with some of the punchlines, in your usual fashion, you used simple sight gags. Half of the punchlines didn't even get those half-assed visualizations. In fact, the only part of the video I thoroughly enjoyed was Cory's verse (on wax, too), with the Young Gun doing his best Agent Smith impression. To tell you the truth, you're not losing it, but you're losing a lot of traction in my book. The whole 'crew in front of the white screen looking cool' motif has been played out in the recession era of hip-hop. You've outworn your welcome to use the slow-mo camera, and there's little more that you can do with black and white filters. To sum it up, all of the cinematic that made your videos the vanguard of hip-hop are becoming more stale than 'Gettin Jiggy With It' in 2011. It's not enough any more. I've said it numerous times and will continue to: creative hip-hop videos are becoming a lost art, with you being a prime example. I guess even for you, the hype is exceeding the actual products... #youseewhatididthere