THREAD: The 15 Best Hip Hop Music Videos of All-Time

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When you watch a music video, you are digesting both visual and sonic art forms simultaneously. It’s important for the footage of a music video to align stylistically with the sound of the track in order to get the audience to properly visualize the theme and meaning of the song.

With that beings said, my criteria for ranking these videos is a combination of cinematic uniqueness and post-production excellence, as well as successful visual storytelling or even deeper themes and meanings being covered through the video.

15). I’m Not Racist – Joyner Lucas



This video is a powerful commentary on racism in America and the tension between races that continues widespread discrimination. The video shows a white and black person arguing face-to-face as they each share their...

views on race and the divide between the two of them. The video is intentionally shot to be a minimalistic as possible, with little to no transitions or on-screen effects, to get the audience to really focus on the lyrics & true meaning of the song. By the end, both the black...

...and white guy have made up, symbolic of the conversation that needs to be had in our country today.

14). Sicko Mode – Travis Scott & Drake



While the song itself has become overplayed & somewhat stale, the opposite can be said for the video. Sicko Mode, directed by Cole Bennett, features what is some of the most advanced post-production cinematic...

editing of any rap video I’ve ever seen. Bennett uses video editing techniques that were never seen before and since have been copied and redone, however not to the same degree of success as in this masterpiece. This video has such a variety of shot types, sets, cut scenes...

...(such as the trippy shot of the girl in purple saying “someone said”) that keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will come next.

13). Element – Kendrick Lamar



Another one of Kendrick Lamar’s visual masterpieces, Element provides powerful imagery of the pain, violence, and even short moments of beauty, that represents his community and where he came from. He is showing the...

hardships he had to overcome to get where he is today. Every single shot and frame from this video is so epic it feels like it could be an album cover itself, and Kendrick uses a ton of strong images that show elements of poverty, racism, violence and social unrest.

12). Power – Kanye West



A true artistic masterpiece, Power is a video of what Kanye called “a moving painting” of him depicted as a King/God. Derived from Greek mythology and renaissance era paintings, West is surrounded by angels and goddesses until...

the end of the video, where he is left with two warriors aiming to strike and kill him with their swords. I believe this video alludes to Kanye’s rise to god-like fame and him seeing himself as the true royalty of hip hop, before his eventual death.

There are certainly religious elements to this video, however what makes it so iconic is that fact that it is super unique and the meaning is up to your own personal interpretation.

11). This is America – Childish Gambino 



This video has some of the most meaningful and powerful social commentary in hip-hop history. Childish Gambino includes symbolism to portray America’s systematic problems of gun violence and shootings...

The scene of the choir singing gladly only to have Gambino turn and shoot them rapidly while saying “this is America” is especially powerful, as it alludes to the 2015’Charleston shooting where nine black people were killed in a church basement. At the end of the video...

Gambino finds himself running for his life, likely because he spoke out against the system & brought to light the injustices of this country. There are many hidden gems throughout the background of the video, and each time you watch you will find something you never saw before.

10). Pursuit of Happiness – Kid Cudi



It’s often hard for such a legendary song to have an equally great video, but Kid Cudi absolutely delivered with Pursuit of Happiness. The video pictures Cudi at a grand and luxurious party having the time of his life

However, on his way to finding what he perceived as his true happiness by partying & using drugs to live the craziest lifestyle, Cudi went too far and the drugs got the best of him. The video outro shows Cudi stumbling into the bathroom and not well, and he flashes back to see...

a previous version of him very messed up and unstable, on the verge of overdosing. In his path towards the pursuit of happiness, while fun and star-studded, Cudi learns was ultimately a very dangerous lifestyle that was harming his health...

The strength of this video is Cudi’s success in emphasizing the harm of using drugs and how it’s dangerous for a path to happiness that necessities that use of substances and rely on all the wrong ways to ease one’s pain.

9). DNA – Kendrick Lamar



One of the most creative and unique conceptual videos of all time, Kendrick Lamar is being interrogated by actor Don Cheadle, who originally plays a the role of a racist police officer, when suddenly they switch bodies and...

Cheadle and Lamar begin rapping back and forth at each other. Eventually Kendrick fights back against Cheadle and evades his control as he gets freed from his handcuffs and standoff with the imposing officer. This video symbolizes the hardships of living as a black man in...

today’s society, especially with the racial prejudices seen in our police force and justice systems.

8). A$AP Forever – A$AP Rocky



Some of the most advanced post-production editing in a music video that I’ve ever seen, ASAP Forever uses 360-degree vertical camera motions to rotate the frame & quick zooms to transition from shot to shot in a creative...

way that quickly changes the viewers perspective. The great use of color and lighting distortion combined with fast paced camera motions and perfectly executed transitions make this video so trippy and overall very memorable. My favorite shot is in the outro featuring a...

slow fade into Rocky’s eye where he is watching himself fall into an abyss filled with darkness before sudden flashes of color and life.

7). Lose Yourself – Eminem



Directed by Eminem himself, lose yourself is a video that tells the story of “B-Rabbit” and includes scenes from “8 Mile” as well as new footage that addresses problems throughout Eminem’s life.

From showing his personal struggles and hardships to being ostracized by the rap community early on based on his race, this video visualizes what Eminem had to go through to get where he is today. By showing tough footage of Detroit and the violent/confrontational lifestyle of...

Eminem, the video successful captures and matches the pure passion and aggression Eminem displays sonically through the song.

6). No Church in the Wild – Kanye West,JAY-Z, Frank Ocean



This beautifully crafted song has an ever more powerful video. The video features a massive riot & war against the police, along with crazy realistic visuals that allude to the exact climate of...

2020’s protests against police brutality and racism. The quality of the footage is insanely high and the sets are so amazingly developed that the video feels so real for viewers. It’s also important to note that none of Kanye, JAY-Z or Frank Ocean actually appear in the video...

at all, and this is so the audience can really focus on the message and theme at hand. The video isn’t about the artists - it’s about the movement is visualizes.

5). A Lot – 21 Savage & J. Cole



“I’d rather be broke in jail than dead and rich”

A symbolic masterpiece that visualizes the journey from rags to riches, 21 Savage is shown with his family in a luxurious mansion having a good time, however these...

glamorous shots are juxtaposed with the unsettling visuals of the hardships his family faced to get there. From his depicting his brother being shot and showing his other family members in the hospital, in jail, being pulled over by police, sexually assaulted, and his mother...

mourning the loss of others, you feel the pain & struggle 21 savage and his family have gone through during their lives. Not to mention the songs also has one of the best features of recent history, as J Cole speaks about the deficiencies of the justice system and music industry.

4). N***** in Paris – Kanye West & JAY-Z



Arguably the hardest and most iconic rap video of all time, this masterpiece was shot at a live show and the footage was distorted in post-production to create what appears as the trippiest concert ever...

The trippy effects and psychedelic visuaks featured throughout this video were well ahead of its time, and the combination of two of the greatest rappers to ever do it paired with the amazing production and well-advanced technical aspects of the project make this video so goated.

3). L$D – A$AP Rocky



Arguably the trippiest music video ever created, LSD sends viewers into a euphoric & psychedelic experience that depicts the effects & feelings of using Hallucinogenic/psychoactive drugs. The video acts as a...

beautifully developed drug-induced love story as it shows ASAP rocky having the time of his life with what seems to be the girl of his dreams. Shot in Tokyo, this video truly has it all - bright colors, flashing lights, trippy effects, & the creation of a beautiful fantasy world.

2). Runaway Film – Kanye West



One of the most memorable music videos of all time and certainly one ahead of its time, Runaway is a long-form film that beautifully visualizes West’s MBDTF album. The opening scene of the video is Kanye running through...

the forest as there is an explosion in the sky, however this is actually the final scene of the video as it all comes back full circle in the end. While it seems Kanye is running away from something at the beginning, the final scene shows he is actually running towards...

the explosion, which is the love of his life “Phoenix” type character who is portrayed as a goddess or angel. The video depicts their love story, and how Kanye in the final scene is not actually running away from the Phoenix’s explosion, but running away from his past and...

judgement day & towards the explosion for what he believes will be a better life for him. This symbolizes where he was in 2010, coming at a time where he was widely hated by the public, and the video visualizes his internal conflict regarding

the public perception of him and his decision to continue to move forward regardless.

1). Alright – Kendrick Lamar



“I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence”

Without a doubt this is one of the most powerful and influential music videos of all time. Shot in all grayscale to emphasize the videos dark and emotional appeals...

Alright is able to successfully visualize racism and police brutality against African Americans and emphasis the impact of the never-ending war against discrimination in our country. The video shows chaotic scenes of destruction and pain, emphasized by police attacks on...

the people, & Kendrick Lamar gets his powerful message recognized even for non-minorities & those who aren’t affected by these problems. The ending scene shows a police officer shooting Lamar, & this is symbolic for the much too common fate for African American people in the U.S.

That’s all for the thread! Thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed it plz like & retweet!

The full version of the thread can be found on my website at https://kurostv.com/written-content/f/the-15-best-hip-hop-music-videos-of-all-time