It’s one thing to write a hit song and a whole other to illustrate that hit song with a bomb-ass music video. Sometimes we forget that the music video itself is an art form, or it used to be anyway, and music videos themselves have a lot to do with whether we end up liking a song or not. Haven’t you ever noticed that you like a song a whole lot more after you see the video/if the video is awesome? Though it’s not on the list, I couldn’t really stand “Single Ladies” when I first heard it. But after seeing the music video…baaaby…I was converted. So in the spirit of awesome, weird but addicting music videos that you will watch over and over just because, here are 9 hypnotic videos that will convince you of the art of the music video form.
1. “Fierce,” Drums of Death featuring Azealia Banks and Franklin Fuentes
Just yaaaasss.
2. “Stone Edge,” Felix K
A techno track set to archival footage of the Berlin Wall!
3. “in due order,” iamamiwhoami
Ok so this one is a little weird — or a lot weird — but it’s beautiful and mesmerizing.
4. “Manhattan,” Cat Power
Who doesn’t love a love letter to “the City” ?!
5. “Pursuit,” GESAFFELSTEIN
Beware of gratuitous ass shots.
6. “Full of Fire,” The Knife
This one is kind of like a movie. It’s 9 minutes long, but gets us thinking about gender and sexuality.
7. “BLKKK SKKKN HEAD,” Kanye West
I mean…
8. “Bring the Noize,” M.I.A.
Puts new meaning in the great philosophical teaching ALL GOLD EVERYTHANG.
9. “Collider,” Jon Hopkins
Weird, chaotic, aggressive, sweet. It’s hard to watch, but there’s something about the emotion that registers with all of us.