Easter Eggs is a format looking at archival video games and the impact they’ve had on cultural icons and phenomena.
Missy Elliott and Da Brat’s “Sock It 2 Me” has been the subject of many remixes and reworks - with the likes of Kaytranada bringing it to an entirely new audience with his future house spin. Beyond the catchy brass beat, there is a clear call back by Missy Elliott to a video game classic - Mega Man.
Mega Man is one of the most iconic video game characters. For the longest time, he was considered the mascot of Capcom (parent company). The various series were a constant presence on consoles, especially Nintendo to the point some considered him an honorary Nintendo character. The original game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987 and spawned a franchise that expanded to over 50 games on multiple systems. As of October 2023 the series has sold 41 million units worldwide. The game cover art itself has been a subcultural phenomenon as recently pointed out by HIDDEN.RSRCH.
The franchise has had a significant impact on the evolution of the gaming industry. The Mega Man games were the first to feature a non-linear "level select" option - something that was largely unheard of in the 80’s, especially especially compared to other bestsellers like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Mega Man has set the basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest-heavy games, including Triple A titles like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.
In the spirit of this non-linearity, Hype Williams and Missy were keen to create something unexpected in the hip hop community. Most music videos followed a fairly “linear” structure - with rappers sitting in luxury cars and posting up next to their crew in and around the neighbourhood. Instead Missy and Hype brought their crew along (with cameos from Timbaland and Lil Kim) and placed them in a fantastical space context.
While Japanese pop culture has gone on to influence many greats from Ye with Akira to Wu Tang with Dragon Ball Z - Missy Elliott and Mega Man felt new and novel at the time.
Check out the music video here: