Bun B has credited JAY-Z with having the first rap music video to officially be given a budget of $1 million.
During an appearance on The Residency Podcast, the UGK rapper said that “Big Pimpin” was the first to achieve the feat, and clarified that rap music videos had gone over a million prior to the release of Hov’s 1999 hit single that he and the late Pimp C appeared on, but that the Vol. 3 cut was the first song to ever be handed a million dollar budget to start with.
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“This was the first million-dollar budgeted rap video ever,” Bun said. “Now, rap videos had budgets that went over that [and] ended up costing a million dollars, but blocked one million dollars just for this music video.”
He continued: “I had never seen anything like it. It was the first rap video I think on ‘Making a Video’ on MTV. It accelerated so quickly, and then within I wanna say three months it was the number one record on the planet.”
Kanye West has also accrued an expensive tab with music videos during the span of his career. A 2018 article on Music Crowns that breaks down the most expensive rap videos ever shows that Ye’s 2007 video for “Stronger” also hit the million-dollar mark, and the “Touch the Sky” music video came close, hitting $996,000.
However, the most expensive music video on record is Diddy’s “Victory,” which purposefully strived to become the most expensive visual of all time. Despite features from Busta Rhymes and The Notorious B.I.G., the song itself merely peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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The visual, which featured Hollywood stars like Dennis Hopper and Danny Devito, ran up a tab of around $2,500,000, which in 2018 translated out to around $4.3 million.
In other JAY-Z news, the Roc Nation mogul is still currently embroiled in his multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Bacardi involving D’USSE. According to a report from AllHipHop, Hov is attempting to move the $2.5 billion suit to Bacardi’s headquarters in Bermuda.
“SC is now preparing to bring litigation against Bacardi in Bermuda, where Bacardi is incorporated and headquartered (the ‘Bermuda Action’), for procuring a breach of D’Usse’s Operating Agreement under Bermudian law,” case documents read. “In aid of that contemplated case, SC seeks this Court’s assistance to obtain relevant evidence from certain investors in Bacardi and/or its affiliates that are found within this Court’s jurisdiction.
“SC therefore respectfully requests that this Court approve the application and permit service of the proposed subpoenas seeking documents to aid its anticipated Bermuda Action.”
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JAY-Z is accusing Bacardi of intentionally mismanaging D’USSÉ in an effort to purchase his 50 percent share at a discount. According to court documents, SC Liquor exercised its right to demand a buyout a year before the lawsuit was filed – which means Bacardi was obliged to come up with a fair price.
However, the 4:44 rapper is accusing Bacardi’s subsidiary Empire Investments Inc. of attempting to “stall and stonewall” efforts that would reveal an accurate valuation of D’USSÉ. The figure that Bacardi brought to the table was reportedly “well below” what JAY-Z had in mind.
