Synopsis

De La Soul perform inside an animated Rubik's Cube that rolls through a bedroom crowded with old-school hip-hop memorabilia. As the cube turns, Posdnuos, Trugoy and Maseo appear on different faces, delivering their verses from shifting angles while the room becomes part of the visual puzzle. The playful concept gives the track's critique of formulaic rap a surreal setting, presenting the veteran trio as performers who remain active, adaptable and impossible to fit into one fixed category.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video's concept grew from a Christmas card featuring the members' faces. The idea was expanded into a performance mapped onto the sides of a moving Rubik's Cube.

• The cube effect required four simultaneous edits, since only four of its six faces could be visible at once. The performers' eyelines and movements had to match across the separate sides.

• The production combined live-action performance footage with background plates, a digitally modeled and animated cube, motion graphics and extensive compositing.

• Live-action footage was shot on RED cameras, while the post-production team handled the 3D animation, lighting, rendering and visual effects.

• The bedroom setting was filmed at Brooklyn Phono, a Brooklyn location associated with recording and music culture.

• The video premiered through Rolling Stone and later received a 2013 Silver Davey Award, a 2014 Webby Honoree recognition and a 2014 Gold Communicator Award.

• The song's "Spirit of the Wu" reference comes from its use of material connected to RZA's spoken introduction on the second disc of Wu-Tang Forever. The visual's intricate cube concept mirrors the track's emphasis on lyrical technique and hip-hop lineage.