Videos of the Year 2015
Welcome to our first ever annual rundown of music videos
The internet rages on. It consumes every aspect of the very reality we have come to know and understand. We used to have Virgin Megastore now we have Amazon. We used to have memories now we have Facebook. We used to have MTV and now we have VEVO. But guess what Grandad? Things change.
That’s right we’re embracing the future of the music video and here we’ve compiled 20 of the best we’ve seen all year. There’s brutal revenge, powerful hip-hop and sweaty wrestling to get your peepers round.
Watch, listen and learn.
Hotline Bling
Drake Directed by Director XThere’s not much to say about Drake’s Hotline Bling video that you haven’t already heard. It arrived, it exploded, Donald Trump did his thing on it, there were so many memes it got hard to keep track and eventually, inevitably, it got boring.
Still on that jumper though.
The Less I Know The Better
Tame Impala Directed by David WilsonTame Impala’s Currents has birthed some weird-ass videos this year, including the nightmare-inducing faceless 3D figures of ‘Cause I’m A Man, and the psychedelic aeroplane horror of Let It Happen – but the video for The Less I Know The Better really does take the cake.
The storyline seems to run thus: a girl gets with a guy, girl is dreaming all the while of the basketball team’s gorilla mascot, guy kills the triumphant gorilla with a basketball to the chest. U wot mate?
Man Don’t Care
JME ft. Giggs Directed by Matt WalkerWhen we first heard Man Don’t Care the mere thought of original badman Giggs sipping on cinnamon tea and tucking into digestives made us crease. When the video dropped and we got to see that beautiful thing in the flesh?
Oh my days. Just watch.
Buffalo
Tyler the Creator Directed by Wolf HaleyTyler’s had hell of a year. After releasing a collection featuring graphics borrowed from White Pride movements (reappropriated as a ‘Golf Pride World Wide’) as an anti-homophobia statement, Tyler was banned from the UK and Australia due to hate speech. This video sums up the endless subversions that appear in Tyler’s life: first he’s a whited up black man being chased by an angry mob of black people, next he’s a black white man in blackface preached to the crowds – then the tone flips into a talk-show format and Tyler performs the incredibly smooth Find Your Wings alongside Kali Uchis and The Internet’s Syd Tha Kid. Gripping, thought-provoking, strange – everything that makes Tyler a completely compelling artist.
Red Sex
Vessel Directed by Harry WrightA prison cell. An iron. Humans in serious physical and mental pain. Well what did you expect from Bristol’s most terrifying noise monger? Vessel’s video for Red Sex is just as upsetting as the tune that backs it.
Know Me From
Stormzy Filmed and Edited by Jaiden RamgeetEven though the video for Know Me From looks like it cost about £30 to make it’s packing more punchlines than a night out with Michael McIntyre. There’s some quick fire costume changes, Stormzy’s actual mum makes a cameo and there’s an unexpected interruption mid shoot just to keep things interesting.
As if that was ever a #PROBLEM.
Holly Herndon
Chorus Directed by Akihiko TaniguchHolly Herndon’s spooky, cybernetic world of unsleeping electrics and the almost-organic took on life in her video for possibly the most accessible of Platform‘s tracks, Chorus.
Some things looking strangely real, while others, uncomfortably melded together, look like an IRL glitch. As Chorus‘ chorus kicks in, inanimate 2D printouts of inanimate items are given life and swarm the screen as if to celebrate Herndon’s biggest year yet.
Alright
Kendrick Lamar Directed by Colin TilleyThe video for Kendrick Lamar’s Alright is hypnotic and powerful. Taken from the LA rapper’s most recent album (and our album of the year) To Pimp A Butterfly, Alright is a positive anthem that took on a life of its own when it was co-opted by protestors at Black Lives Matter rallies across the US.
Its video reflects that positive message of ‘anything’s possible’ as Kendrick spits bars from the top of a lamp post, flies down the street and is hoisted into the air by four police. It’s all going well until the final scene when Kendrick is picked from his perch by a cop.
A penetrative and potent comment on modern America.
Coke White, Starlight
Mykki Blanco Directed by Tristan PattersonMykki Blanco’s 2015 comeback track, Coke White, Starlight, came fully equipped with a cinematic, beautiful, and utterly terrifying video.
It juxtaposes traditionally feminine fripperies against a jungle full of jagged rocks and crystal waters and Mykki’s beautifully madeup face is man-handled by many rough, ringed hands. It’s a comment on the dangers chemsex, vulnerability, and Greek economy – and as it’s Mykki Blanco, it’s done stunningly.
Bitch Better Have My Money
Rihanna Directed by MegaforceRihanna’s first self-directed video raised a few eyebrows as well as a few pulses this year. Her Tarantino-esque tale involves her kidnapping a character we only know as a rich lady with her fuck-off Instagram-scouted girl gang. Cue Rihanna living the dream: she plays with guns, luxuriates on a boat, and gets super high with her prey in a motel room. Eventually, we find out the real target of her fury – we won’t ruin it for you, but it ends in a lingering shot of Fenty’s defiant, blood soaked face.
A huge fuck-off to everything that’s ever hurt her – Rihanna wins again.
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