Red Hot Chili Peppers — Give It Away

JUL 01 1991 · 12:00

Red Hot Chili Peppers — Give It Away (1991) Director: Stéphane Sednaoui Era: Alternative Rock Breakthrough Era (1991) - Peak MTV rotation period; grunge and alt-rock displacing hair metal, RHCP crossing from cult funk-punk act to mainstream phenomenon via Blood Sugar Sex Magik Tier-1 archival priority. 'Give It Away' is among a small cohort of music videos — alongside Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and U2's 'One' — that function as genuine historical documents of the early-1990s alternative rock inflection point. Its VMA wins, MTV heavy rotation status, and direct causal role in RHCP's global breakthrough make it irreplaceable for any study of 1990s music video culture, MTV programming history, or the visual language of alternative rock's mainstream arrival. Context: Released September 1991 as the lead single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 'Give It Away' arrived at the precise inflection point when MTV's alternative programming block was displacing the hair-metal era. The video's desert surrealism and silver body-paint aesthetic were categorically unlike prevailing music video conventions, representing a visual argument that alternative rock's rejection of spectacle-as-production-value was itself a form of spectacle. Warner Bros.' internal resistance — fearing the clip was 'too artsy' — underscores the genuine cultural rupture the video represented. Its placement in heavy MTV rotation helped catalyze RHCP's transformation from cult Los Angeles funk-punk act to global arena headliners, and the clip's 1992 VMA wins for Breakthrough Video and Best Art Direction institutionalized the idea that experimental visual language could be commercially viable. Director notes: Sednaoui's 'Give It Away' (1991) was his debut major US commission, filmed in a desert setting with the band members covered in silver body paint performing interpretive choreography against a barren landscape. The experimental, abstract approach caused concern at Warner Bros., who felt it was 'too weird' or 'too artsy' for mainstream audiences; the label ultimately released it unedited. The video was released September 4, 1991. It won two awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards — Breakthrough Video and Best Art Direction — and was nominated for Best Alternative Video and Best Editing. The video was placed in heavy rotation on MTV and is widely credited as a pivotal factor in the band's rise to international mainstream popularity. Sednaoui would later return to direct the band's 'Scar Tissue' (1999).