10 Greatest Music Videos By Spike Jonze

8. Notorious B.I.G. - Sky's The Limit

The video for "Sky's the Limit" works on two levels. I wanted to include this video, first and foremost, to showcase the diversity of Spike Jonze's style. He could make memorable low-budget music videos but he also knows how to make videos with a richer, more elaborate production design. While the video is funny for obvious reasons, it's also pretty remarkable how it perfectly captures the look and feel of a late-'90s rap video. This isn't a parody, this is complete emulation. Spike Jonze not only nails it, but you can tell he knows exactly what makes them work. The clothes, the attitude, the style---it's all there. The second level is probably the more obvious one: it's the kids! These kids do an incredible job at imitating these rap stars, making the whole thing look incredibly seamless. Of course, the reason why these kids are used is not just to make a cute video; Notorious B.I.G. had passed away by the time this video was made. The only music video Biggie appears in during the "Life After Death" era is for "Hypnotize" which was produced one month before he died. So the video for "Sky's the Limit" can also be seen as a tribute to the late rapper.
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Ken writes movie reviews on his blog, kenoncinema.blogspot.com. He currently resides in New York City. Twitter: @keng324