Synopsis
Set in Miami, the video opens at Sisqo's home, where his young daughter discovers a thong and prompts a comically bewildered reaction from her father and wife. Sisqo then heads to a Spring Break-style beach party, cruising through the Florida Keys with his dancers in a Bentley Azure. Surrounded by bikini-clad revelers, he performs acrobatic stunts above the crowd before taking the stage for an exuberant finale featuring blacklights, dramatic choreography and an orchestra.
Factoids & Trivia
- The little girl who finds the thong at the beginning is Sisqo's daughter, Shaione. She was about four or five years old when the video was filmed.
- The video was shot in Miami and includes scenes filmed around the Florida Keys. Sisqo and his dancers are seen traveling in a Bentley Azure.
- Dru Hill members Nokio, Jazz and Woody appear in the video, alongside Method Man, Redman, Ja Rule and LL Cool J.
- The video's gravity-defying crowd sequences used visual effects that Sisqo later said were unusually advanced for music videos at the time. Similar techniques were subsequently used in major Hollywood productions.
- Sisqo said the production team deliberately used unconventional camera angles to suggest the revealing outfits without showing too much.
- The climactic performance combines the video's playful beach-party atmosphere with a more theatrical presentation, including blacklight imagery and a live orchestra.
- The video was featured on MTV's "Making the Video," helping turn its deliberately over-the-top visual style into part of the song's cultural identity.
- "Thong Song" earned four Grammy nominations and became one of the defining music videos of the 2000 pop and R&B era.
- An alternate video was made for the Foxy Brown remix, "Thong Song Uncensored." That version shifts the setting to Baltimore, where Sisqo escapes from fans and ends up at a fashion show.