FatLip - What's Up Fat Lip？

2000

FatLip - What's Up Fat Lip？ (2000) Director: Spike Jonze Era: Post-Millennium Underground Hip-Hop (1999–2000) - Late 1990s/early 2000s alternative rap moment defined by confessional introspection, lo-fi guerrilla video aesthetics, and the decline of Pharcyde-era alternative West Coast hip-hop Exceptionally high. This video is a confirmed Spike Jonze directorial work appearing in his authoritative Directors Label retrospective (2003), representing a pivotal moment in both his career and in alternative hip-hop visual history. Its radical lo-fi documentary aesthetic, confessional tone, and cross-subcultural resonance make it essential for any archive documenting 1990s, 2000s hip-hop video art, guerrilla filmmaking, or the cultural biography of The Pharcyde's extended legacy. The video's emotional rawness and its director's subsequent mainstream trajectory give it outsized art-historical significance relative to its underground origins. Context: Released in 2000 on Delicious Vinyl, 'What's Up Fatlip?' emerged at a critical juncture for West Coast alternative hip-hop. Following Fatlip's expulsion from The Pharcyde after Labcabincalifornia (1995), the single was a radical act of public self-flagellation in an era when hip-hop bravado was commercially dominant. Spike Jonze's guerrilla documentary approach, capturing Fatlip wandering Hollywood in costume, rapping next to his mother, and performing humiliating public stunts, anticipated the gonzo performance aesthetics of Jackass (which Jonze co-created for MTV). The video's lo-fi warmth and confessional rawness made it a touchstone for underground rap authenticity, contrasting sharply with the high-budget production values of mainstream late-1990s hip-hop. Its inclusion in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland cemented its cross-subcultural reach into skate culture. Director notes: Confirmed directed by Spike Jonze per Wikipedia (Fatlip article), IMDb (tt6810042, release date March 2000), Delicious Vinyl official artist page, Rolling Stone, and IMDb's Spike Jonze other works listing (2000). The single was released in 2000 on Delicious Vinyl. Jonze filmed Fatlip over two days on the streets of Hollywood in an improvisational style, capturing the rapper in various humiliating scenarios including dressed as a clown and in a diaper, and made a spontaneous visit to Fatlip's mother. During filming, Jonze also compiled interviews with Fatlip that were assembled into a separate documentary of the same name (31 minutes), included on The Work of Director Spike Jonze Directors Label DVD (2003) and the Fatlip album The Loneliest Punk CD+DVD (2005). Fatlip initially disliked the video for being 'too raw' but came to appreciate it after positive public reception. The video was later edited into The Work of Director Spike Jonze (2003, IMDb tt0386124). The 'What's Up Fatlip?' single was also included in the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and Youth In Revolt soundtracks.