I remember first seeing Lil Jon rocking his “Crunk Ain’t Dead” chain in the Snap Yo Fingers music video and rolling my eyes. This was simply an expensive denial of reality. It had died over a year ago by that time, and the world of rap music had moved on.
The end result was one of the laziest, most uninteresting videos that the amazing Hype Williams ever produced. Nothing happens. There is a disconnect between the visual style and the song. And it is so boring.
Seriously, Snap Yo Fingers is a four-minute music video of the same handful of settings and dancers. Making it widescreen format with some seizure inducing backgrounds and an occasional full screen fill does not change that fact.
As we’ve talked about before, you don’t need a storyline or plot to make a good rap music video. You should, however, be doing something. Especially when your musical style relies on extreme repetition.
See More: Rap Music Video Reviews from The Touchback
Song: Snap Yo Fingers
Artist: Lil Jon E-40 and Sean P
Year: 2006
Quote it:
Hey, snap ya fingers, do ya step
You can do it all by yo self
Best Video Moment: Sean Paul wearing a baseball cap over a shower cap for some inexplicable reason
Snap Yo Fingers and the death of Crunk music
The Snap Yo Fingers music video was a perfect example of why Crunk had died. There was no way for the genre to reinvent itself. It was as one note as one note could possibly be. Meanwhile, the Atlanta rap scene was evolving rapidly in 2006 with artists like Young Jeezy and T.I. finding their voice.
And then on the dance side of the spectrum, there was Yung Joc and D4L building on the platform Crunk had provided. The lack of direction or entertainment in this music video was further proof time had passed the genre by. And besides, why snap your fingers when you could be Joc-in?
Sorry, Lil Jon, that “Crunk Ain’t Dead” chain was not your best investment.
