How the ‘The Kardashians’ Created that Epic ‘Cuff It’ Music Video (Exclusive)

The Kardashians are "in the mood to f--k something up." On Thursday, Season 3 of The Kardashians premiered on Hulu, previewing drama with Kim's ex-husband Kanye "Ye" West and an epic fight between Kim and Kourtney over the rights to work fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. But, to kick off the season, the family — including Kim, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as Kris, Kylie and Kendall Jenner — reunited for an epic music video to Beyoncé's "Cuff It," helmed by seasoned director Arrad and featuring a disco roller skating party and a couple of pairs of eye-boggling sunnies.

Reality television isn't exactly known for its needle drops — Netflix's Selling Sunset tends to go viral for its generic "girlboss" soundtrack, and Season 4 of Love Is Blind was ridiculed for its hyper-literal song choices. But, in Season 3 of The Kardashians, the show kicks off with a number of well-known songs, from "Cuff It" to the TikTok-famous "Jiggle Jiggle."

According to the series' music supervisors Ben Hochstein and Greg Danylyshyn, a lot of the series' music choices come from the family themselves. After throwing around options from Donna Summer to Doja Cat, the two finally landed on the Beyoncé single after a family member suggested it.

"We want to represent their tastes and music and that's what they want too — we want the show's music to reflect our music," Hochstein said. "We're trying to get stuff that's in their style, stuff that they like and stuff that makes sense for the show, to set it apart from just the normal reality music that you hear everyday. It makes the show feel a little higher-end."

Next, came clearing the selection with Beyoncé's team, which was no easy task. Despite their already-big budget, Hochstein said they got permission to "go over" it, using their pre-existing relationships with Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records to seal the deal.

"It was something that was important to the family," he said. "And I think Beyoncé's team thought it'd be a good look for them, too."

Plus, this isn't the last time that Season 3 watchers will get to listen to an epic needle drop. Hochstein said that, when the family heads to Italy for Kim's Dolce & Gabbana show, we'll hear some Italian pop songs, while Danylyshyn teased a "pretty good" finale montage set to the dulcet tones of an indie singer.

The music supervisors noted that it's a welcome change for unscripted subjects to be this involved in song choice, and it's not the first time that a Kardashian pick has made its way on-screen. Songs from Lizzo have been special requests, and Hochstein said that "a lot" of the music featured in Kourtney's wedding special, ‘Til Death Do Us Part: Kourtney & Travis, were picked by the Poosh founder herself — something that's atypical for reality television.

"I've worked on plenty of reality shows that are about people but they don't want to be bothered — they shoot the show and they're done. They're out," he said. "Music is the last thing, but it's really important. It really sets the scene and tells the story and builds the vibe of the show. So I think it's cool that as big as the Kardashians are, as busy as they are with all their projects, they are actually very involved with the show, even down into the music."

New episodes of The Kardashians drop Thursdays on Hulu.