The 20 Best Music Videos of 2019
In 2019, music videos seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. Turn on the TV, log in to a streaming platform, open up your social media feeds: Rapid-fire, music-fueled visuals bombarded us from all sides. But with everything from album teasers to TikTok competing for attention, it was harder than ever for traditional music videos to cut through the fray. From FKA twigs’ hypnotic pole dance to Stormzy’s epic flexes to Doja Cat’s ’90s fantasia, here are 20 that did.
20.
Powder: “New Tribe”
Director: AC-bu
Inspired by Powder’s real-life experience working a dull corporate job by day and crafting lush techno tracks by night, the Tokyo DJ’s mind-bending anime clip for “New Tribe” follows a squad of corporate lackeys as they turn in their resignation letters and take to the streets in a giant, psychedelic dance party. The revelry is complete with a peach-headed Powder on the decks and trucks with 12''s for steering wheels. Sure, everyone dreams about quitting their day job, but Powder makes it look like absolute heaven. –Eric Torres
19.
Doja Cat: “Tia Tamera” [ft. Rico Nasty]
Director: Roxana Baldovin
For “Tia Tamera,” a song comparing the size of Doja Cat’s boobs to Tia and Tamera Mowry, the titular twin stars of the beloved Clinton-era sitcom Sister Sister, the rapper steps into a dreamworld of ’90s pastiche, as oversaturated as Lisa Frank sticker books and Nickelodeon slime. Pulling from an episode of Sister, Sister in which Tia and Tamera faced off in a game show against Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the video lets Doja’s wild humor flourish. For Rico Nasty’s verse, Doja and Rico don the extravagant costumes of the 1997 comedy B.A.P.S. and take a joyride around a candy-colored Los Angeles. The over-the-top visuals hold their own with Doja and Rico’s wild energy—just barely. –Colin Lodewick
18.
Pop Smoke: “Welcome to the Party”
Director: GoddyGoddy
The YouTube comments on the video for New York’s song of the summer are incredulous about the deep, villainous voice of Pop Smoke: “Dude sounds like he’s got a Dorito stuck in his throat.” “He sounds like he’ll steal flowers from a funeral.” The video itself operates with a similarly captivating and elusive energy. Interrupted by occasional sci-fi special effects, as if the Canarsie native is being magically teleported around Brooklyn before our very eyes, Pop Smoke raps with a small child in his arms and lets a charismatic teenager steal a few scenes; at one point, a bottle of champagne is uncorked to the beat. Somehow, it all suits the intensity. “Don’t try this at home,” a caption warns. Who would even dare? –Sam Sodomsky
17.
Tove Lo: “Glad He’s Gone”
Director: Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia
Idiot ex-boyfriends are a dime a dozen. But your best girlfriend? Brilliant. Showstopping. Flawless. Tove Lo’s “Glad He’s Gone” is a hilariously insane demonstration of how far women will go to support each other. The Swedish pop star steps politely out of brunch to counsel her friend through a break-up, then treks across deserts, through hurricanes, and on top of subway cars while delivering advice. She gets arrested after casually killing a burglar, escapes from jail, and changes her identity—all the while chatting with the effortlessness of someone at home painting their nails. –Cat Zhang
16.
Aldous Harding: “The Barrel”
Director: Martin Sagadin and Aldous Harding
What the hell is going on in Aldous Harding’s video for “The Barrel”? Don’t ask her; she ain’t telling. Is that discomfiting stare and bizarre shimmy some kind of comment on the inherent awkwardness of human interaction? Is that enormous, condom-like hat (and the surprise connected to it) a metaphor for the ways in which we try to obscure the uglier parts of ourselves? Is that ecstatic dance at the end an expression of the freedom of letting go of inhibitions? You’ll just have to decide for yourself—and chances are, once you’ve seen “The Barrel,” it will be a while before you stop thinking about it. –Amy Phillips
15.
Jenny Hval: “Accident”
Director: Zia Anger
Zia Anger’s music videos are always labors of love, full of intense performances and meticulous details, but her latest clip for frequent collaborator Jenny Hval takes this concept further. “Accident” stars Anger’s mother, Barbara, as she pantomimes the actions of two younger women pondering ideas of reproduction, shame, and existence. Paired with symbolic bursts of caves, jellyfish, and running faucets, the surreal video proclaims that childbirth is part of a greater system of magic, one that connects the personal with the cosmic. –Quinn Moreland
14.
BLACKPINK: “Kill This Love”
Director: Hyun Seung Seo
K-pop videos are known for their excess, but BLACKPINK’s "Kill This Love" makes most of their peers’ visuals look like chintzy cellphone clips. The abundant ideas, outfits, sets, and dance moves flash by at a pace that will leave you breathless. Jennie mugs in front of a pair of swans the size of SUVs. Lisa raps in a technicolor heaven stocked with only the sugariest cereals. Jisoo dons an artsy headpiece resembling a frozen splash of water that should make Björk jealous. Rosé speeds down a dark highway in a muscle car, crying as she bares down on... herself. Not to mention the climactic scene in which all four members dance in the middle of a bear trap big enough to snare a T. rex. And all this happens in just over three minutes! –Ryan Dombal
13.
21 Savage: “a lot” [ft. J. Cole]
Director: Aisultan Seitov
“a lot” is nothing like the typical 21 Savage video: He’s not hanging out in a trap house with Metro Boomin, and there are no slow-motion shots of weapons and pricey weed. Instead, “a lot” is about family. In the clip, the Atlanta rapper attends an opulent gathering with relatives; the overall tone is joyful, but it changes in flashback scenes that show each person at a low point in their lives. Despite all of their issues, the family’s problems are an afterthought when they get to dance and eat lobster with the people they love. And did I mention that 21 Savage is decked out in the cleanest black suit? –Alphonse Pierre
12.
Anna Meredith: “Paramour”
Director: Ewan Jones Morris
Rod Stewart, miniature train zealot and recent cover model of Railway Modeller magazine, would surely love this ingenious video from English electro-classical composer Anna Meredith. A LEGO train weaves merrily around her band—whizzing under legs, past the cello and tuba, under houseplant leaves and over desktop trestles—with the camera strapped to its front for a first-person vantage. The thrill ride is impressively synced; the rail tracks are laid out perfectly to emphasize the dynamics of the song, turning sharply at string squeals and curving gracefully during languid passages. It is a spree of lo-fi genius. –Stacey Anderson
11.
J Balvin / Bad Bunny: “CUIDAO POR AHÍ”
Director: Colin Tilley
Why are J Balvin and Bad Bunny stomping around Mykonos like a gang of Hot Topic goths about to ruin an influencer’s vacation? Why are their black-clad cronies leering down from white buildings? What is that slimy lobster-bug crawling out of the sea? Terror mixes with mischief in the stylish video for “CUIDAO POR AHÍ.” Its images of J Balvin dangling upside-down over a fire and splashing blood onto a church sparked outcry over “satanic” imagery, but Balvin was cool onscreen and off, retorting on Instagram, “If being satanic is to create different content and entertainment, then what am I?” –Cat Zhang
10.
Tierra Whack: “Unemployed”
Director: Cat Solen
Leave it to Tierra Whack to give “couch potato” a disturbingly literal visual. The Philly rapper’s sinister one-off single “Unemployed” laments the 9-to-5 grind, and the video depicts her as a chef toiling in a kitchen, hacking away at anthropomorphized potatoes as the other spuds look on in terror. Come for the inventive displays of starchy food art; stay long enough to find out who’s waiting for their meal in the dining room. –Eric Torres
9.
The Chemical Brothers: “We’ve Got to Try”
Director: Ninian Doff
There are not enough music videos featuring inspirational montages of dogs, and not enough music videos that place dogs in 2001: A Space Odyssey-level intergalactic scenarios. The Chemical Brothers seek to address these deficits in a video with a gravitas and weight the Air Bud films never dared approach. Fair warning to the squeamish about animal danger: There’s a moment in the video when it looks like a dog might die. The dog doesn’t die. It becomes more powerful than any of us could possibly imagine. –Evan Minsker
8.
Rosalía: “Fucking Money Man”
Director: Bàrbara Farré
“Fucking Money Man,” which combines clips for two Rosalía songs, subverts the tropes of greedy game shows. The beat of the first song, “Milionària,” urges her on as she’s picked from the audience to come onto a gaudy stage. She grabs at bills in a wind chamber, wins a car, and spins a mystery wheel. The card she lands on reads “Dio$ No$ Libre Del Dinero,” and with that, the video flips abruptly into the second song. Rosalía becomes the show’s musical guest, and within a ring of fire, she laments the destructive force of wealth. She staggers off the stage when she’s done, disoriented after so strongly condemning our hunger for cash. Drew Carey, watch your back. –Colin Lodewick
7.
Charli XCX / Christine and the Queens: “Gone”
Director: Colin Solal Cardo
The video for “Gone” opens with Charli XCX and Christine and the Queens’ Héloïse Letissier strapped to a white Mercedes in a tangle of thick ropes. The bondage doesn’t last long. Though “Gone” appears to have a Michael Bay budget, its true power comes from the intimate chemistry between its two stars: They prowl around each other and writhe in ecstasy with unwavering eye contact. By the time the steamy visual reaches its climax, with the duo dancing on the car’s roof in a lightning storm, Charli and Chris have cut through every obstacle holding them back. –Quinn Moreland
6.
Stormzy: “Vossi Bop”
Director: Henry Scholfield
Everyone has to come harder with their flexes in 2020, because few can hope to top Stormzy shutting down London in his video for “Vossi Bop.” The British rapper drifts past landmarks like the Westminster Bridge and the Bank of England, backed by a troupe of dancers draped in black. It’s a mesmerizing video with effects that’ll make you dizzy, lavish set changes, and Stormzy relaxing on the hood of a Prius. Catch me watching a step-by-step tutorial of the choreography. –Alphonse Pierre
5.
Solange: “Almeda”
Director: Solange
“Almeda” is a master class in editing. The video weaves a wide range of images—portraits celebrating black cowboy aesthetics, symmetrical poses inspired by Hindu and Buddhist mudras, webcam footage—into a gorgeous moodboard for Solange’s meditative lyrics. The song is one of many on When I Get Home named after streets in Houston; from its chopped and screwed-inspired instrumental to its lyrical references to “black braids,” “black skin,” and “black faith,” it pays homage to the culture of her city. The video’s images, filmed at Texas landmarks, flow together seamlessly: Concentric circles of people walking in a parking garage segue into concentric circles in an office room. The circular motion of a pole dancer merges into a slowly rotating motorcycle. Cinematic push-outs follow one another, creating a feeling of endlessness. –Vrinda Jagota
4.
Lana Del Rey: “Doin’ Time”
Director: Rich Lee
In Lana Del Rey’s grainy visual for “Doin’ Time”—the Sublime cover nobody knew they needed—jumbo Lana traipses through Los Angeles like a benevolent King Kong, plucking palm trees like daisies and sipping from rooftop water cisterns. We soon realize that these scenes are being projected at a drive-in movie theater packed with 1950s coupes—but when one moviegoer (also played by Del Rey) catches her date smooching another woman, Lana Kong breaks the fourth wall to avenge her. If only life were like the movies. –Madison Bloom
3.
Angel Olsen: “Lark”
Director: Ashley Connor
As a song, “Lark” already felt like a movie—an epic, Oscar-bait drama. How do you put visuals to that kind of scope? This sweeping video succeeds by keeping the focus on Angel Olsen alone as the world floods and burns around her. She has a male co-star, but you never get a clear look at his face or into their relationship. You only see where it takes her: on a hillside at dawn; in a car’s headlights in the pouring rain; lost beneath a canopy of trees; deep underwater with a white dress billowing around her. She’s everywhere at once. She’s free. –Sam Sodomsky
2.
Normani: “Motivation”
Director: Dave Myers and Daniel Russell
Inspired by turn-of-the-millennium pop videos by Destiny’s Child, Jennifer Lopez, Ciara, and more, Normani’s clip for “Motivation” is full of feel-good energy. In it, her girlhood dream of being featured on 106 and Park turns into a post-Fifth Harmony breakout moment for the talented artist. As she dances her way through classic locations from R&B videos past, including b-ball courts and street parties, her plea to “take a look at me now” feels like a revelation, an undeniable starmaking turn. The infectiousness of the song, and its jaw-dropping choreography, will rouse someone to action far more effectively than giving them a Peloton. –Sheldon Pearce
1.
FKA twigs: “cellophane”
Director: Andrew Thomas Huang
As FKA twigs flies and flexes slowly around a pole, exerting strength under sepia-tone light, she sings softly and unleashes a tidal wave of feeling: loneliness, grace, quiet despair. She articulates the heartbreaking need to perform for each other in relationships, lilting, “Didn’t I do it for you? Why don’t I do it for you?” But coupled with this epic display of discipline, desire, and solitary power—which all finally arrive at personal fantasy—her pain gives way to something sublime. –Jenn Pelly
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
