Iconic Hip-Hop group De La Soul is taking fans behind the scenes of their classic video, 'Me Myself, & I" for Vevo Footnotes, in honor of Hip-Hop's 50th anniversary.
The episode features Posdnuos detailing the ins and outs of the video and sharing info about what was going on behind the scenes, saying that the video opening was inspired by The Twilight Zone. "I’m a big ‘Twilight Zone’ fan, so when it was time to figure out how to include [producer] Prince Paul in the video, we went with him being a hip-hop Rod Serling to set up the story," he explains.
Aside from the desire for the video to be comical, the primary point of the visual was to highlight how important it is to be confident and embrace individualism, which makes sense for a group that was celebrated for that very thing, straight out of the gate. "The press was referring to us as the hippies of hip-hop," Pos remembered. "This song became a way to express that this wasn’t a gimmick and that we were being ourselves. This is why in my first verse I say, “You say Plug 1 & 2 are hippies, no we’re not, that’s pure Plug bull.”
In another cool moment, Pos shared a tidbit about their fellow Native Tongues crew member, Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest. "Ali Shaheed [from A Tribe Called Quest] was the guy who wrote De La Sucks on the bathroom wall," Pos said.
In the end, Pos said the video was about being yourself. "This video underscored individuality - confidence in owning who you are and want to be, regardless of what others think. It was our first video with a budget," he said.
De La Soul's first six albums just hit streaming services last Friday, just weeks after founding member Trugoy aka Dave tragically passed away. Watch the video below.