Synopsis

The video opens in a shadowy Men in Black facility, where Agent K explains the secret agents' mission before Agent J takes over. Smith moves through laboratories filled with alien creatures, strange technology, and uniformed agents, turning the operation into a slick dance routine. When Mikey escapes, J tries to contain the chaos by teaching him the group's signature moves. The chase ends with the alien escaping in an SUV, while Smith uses a neuralyzer on the viewer, erasing the evidence of what happened.

Factoids & Trivia

• Tommy Lee Jones appears at the beginning in character as Agent K, providing a spoken introduction to the Men in Black's work.

• The warehouse set was built to resemble a miniature science-fiction film production, with around 30 dancers dressed as agents, laboratory equipment, debris, and an alien character added with computer-generated effects.

• The alien in the video is Mikey, the same character seen in the 1997 film.

• Smith learned more of the choreography than originally planned. According to Robert Caruso, he specifically wanted to master the more complicated section at the end of the routine.

• The dance sequence was partly motivated by Smith's desire to show Jada Pinkett that he could dance. Pinkett later joked that the video had "a really good editor."

• Two endings were produced. In one, the neuralyzer flash returns the viewer to the empty hallway from the opening; in the other, the screen simply turns white.

• The video won Best Video from a Film at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards and was also nominated for Best Male Video, Best Choreography, and Best Special Effects.

• The song was Smith's first solo single after his work with DJ Jazzy Jeff and served as the musical launch of his transition from the Fresh Prince persona to a solo career.

• "Men in Black" was built around a sample and re-sung chorus based on Patrice Rushen's "Forget Me Nots."