Kendrick Lamar Didn't Release an Album in 2018, and He Still Has One of the Year's Best Videos

The music video, which hit a decline in the post-MTV years, has seen a roaring comeback in the age of YouTube. Now, the medium has rightfully returned as a viable art form, with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, and Childish Gambino using it as more than a companion piece of images tacked on to a good song. For the likes of Gambino and Janelle Monaè, the music video is used to help convey the message of the song, whether to deliver symbolism of a political or empowering message. Artists are using this as a way to build and curate their artistic identity - or in the case of most pop stars, as a means to insert a valuable brand product placement for those billions of YouTube views. These are the best music videos of 2018.