Sure, there were plenty of things wrong in the '90s: race riots, the continuing AIDS epidemic, hair metal, the lack of social media. Those don't have a place in our relentless nostalgia for the decade now — particularly not through the lens of this new flashback video by Rashida Jones, "Flip and Rewind." Jones and her writing partner, Will McCormack, directed the clip for the song, which was written by Jones' nephew, Sunny Levine, a.k.a. Boss Selection. Other family members and friends get in on the act of making the '90s feel like the home of all that is fly and romantic.
After FaceTiming with '90s superproducer Jermaine Dupri about how much she misses the music and the vibe of the era, Jones slips into the dream sequence portion of the video. What follows is an homage to the videos of TLC, Mary J. Blige, Brandy, Keith Sweat, Boyz II Men and other R & B greats. Jones, sisters Kidada and Martina, as well as the women from her real-life high school dance squad get decked out in oversized blazers, hoop earrings, baseball jerseys, and backwards Kangol hats to complete the time warp.
"I think for you and I both, it's such an important time musically, emotionally, and psychologically," the Parks and Recreation star said in an interview with Levine in Rolling Stone. "Every part of us formed during the Nineties, and we took all of the quintessential R & B videos from the Nineties and did our best to recreate them."
Of course, nothing gets more '90s than a scene in which Jones and her lady friends are cruising in a Mercedes convertible and exchange phone numbers with some guys in another car, one of whom shows off his flip phone. During the shoot, Jones said a couple of guys even tried to pick them up.
"We were pulling into the lot, and two real guys pulled up next to us and were like, 'Hey, what's up? What's your name?' And Kidada goes, 'Oh, no, no, no. This isn't real life. We're in the Nineties.' They wanted to go back! They wanted to go back with us!"
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