Although I was born in 1980, I don’t remember much about the decade at all. I believe I can speak for most older Millennials when I say that the 80s play back in our minds as a montage of Saturday morning cartoons and Pepsi Commercials. My parents listened to 80s soul music almost exclusively. The Whispers , the OJays, and Luther Vandross were the only music acts that existed in my universe. Rock music was that weird screaming music that played in the background of Hollywood action scenes and deodorant commercials. The idea of actually LISTENING to it had never crossed my mind. That was until I dared to change the dial behind my parents back to the “White people music ” channel, MTV.
The music videos of the 90s are the single most influential media in my creative development, and I could think of no better way to describe the inception of my brain, than to write a love letter to those mini music movies that showed a black kid in Kentucky just how dark, beautiful and terrifying the world could be if he dared dream past the stop sign at the end of the cul-de-sac.
#20 Smells Like Teen Spirit - NIRVANA
Debuting in September ’91, the promo clip for Nirvana’s smash hit , single handedly rid MTV of spandex and aqua net. The impact of this video cannot be understated. For all intents and purposes, music videos are promotional clips, recorded to push the release of a single. And by that very basic metric, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is one of the most successful promotional media ever recorded.
Not content to simply sell a catchy radio tune, Samuel Bayer’s directorial debut launched the career of one of the most influential bands of all time, cemented their sound permanently in the hearts of a generation, and changed the look and direction of the channel it aired on. The sound of rock music hadn’t changed that quickly since the Beatles played Ed Sullivan in ’64
Arguably responsible for launching Grunge Rock into the mainstream, damn near every rock video higher on this list owes existence to that orange tinted gymnasium, the anarchy cheerleaders and the lonely janitor.
#19 sMACK MY B*TCH UP - the Prodigy
MTV, like most cable networks at the time, waited until the middle of the night to broadcast its most risque material. If you were in the devil’s favor, your timing just right, and turned to MTV at precisely 2:59 AM , you might just catch a glimpse at the video that existed mostly in urban legend. The illusive and mind bending “Smack My Bitch Up”
One of the earliest examples of a music video shot entirely in first person, Prodgies third cut from their third album, would incite controversy over its title and graphic depiction of drugs, sex and violence. Decades later, critics would praise the clip as a shining example of feminism. Director Jonas Akerlund would move on to win a grammy for directing Madonna’s “Ray of Light” video in 1998. And I enrolled in college scared to death of drugs and alcohol. Thanks for those boring college years guys.
Next round is on me.
#18 Sober - Tool
Surreal and unrelenting. Tool’s video debut used stop motion photography as we follow an unnamed humanoid, while its mind degrades after opening an empty wooden box. The puppet’s odyssey through a dilapidated mansion with meat flowing through the pipes is punctuated by run ins with a one eyed mad scientist, and a paraplegic baby with wheels for legs. The dingy madness climaxing with his face melting to the floor and his arms writhing uncontrollably.
I had recorded a VHS tape full of my favorite music videos to get me through the 15 minutes of commercial breaks between segments. Tools Sober was the first and last video on the reel as I was fascinated by director Fred Stur’s dreadful imagery. Tool Guitarist Adam Jones designed the character models , inspired by the films of the Brother’s Quay. Kurt Cobain himself would express a 2 pound bag of salt over the video, as he wanted to rip off the Quay brother’s first, but Jones beat him to it.
Truly Dank.
#17 bring the pain - method man
Early Wu Tang videos followed a very similar formula, crowds of menacing Killer Bees in dimly lit staircases, dingy hallways and smoke filled basements. Wu Tang’s Shaolin seemed to be trapped in an infinite nuclear winter, as if Skynet had already destroyed the island and left only the black folks. Method Man’s solo debut brought this imagery to the masses, stacking the lumber of the gang’s previous video efforts and hitting the nail on the head.
A graffiti stricken city bus, filled to the brim with the last dudes you would want to run into in a dark alley, takes you to that very alley, and drops you off only to be confronted by Method Man, and that iconic cold dead eye. Beautifully photographed by seminal director Diane Martel who’s resume now includes Alicia Keys, Adam Levine and 8 videos for Miley Cyrus. Her work is a rabbit hole of amazing music videos. Start your journey here as I did, 30 years ago.
#16 HUMAN BEHAVIOR - BJORK
I can’t speak for the rest of the MTV watching world, but every time Alternative Nation felt generous enough to bless us with Bjork’s solo debut, I simply wanted to rewind it and watch it again, and again and again. I couldn’t help but wonder what drugs the director was taking.
When assigned the task of visualizing the former Sugarcubes vocalist’s groovy cut, director Michel Gondry opted to give us a fairy tale on crack. A giant stuffed bear stalks Bjork through a Nickelodeon-like forest, as she attempts to escape with the help of a woodsman and a giant moth. The bear wins as nature always does, killing the woodsman and swallowing Bjork whole, only after she flies to the moon of course.
Michel Gondry would ultimately helm a small film titled “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”.I on the other hand, continue my fruitless search for his dealer.
#15 I BE THAT
Redman was not the first rapper to parody the tropes of mid 90s rap videos, The Roots and De La Soul released similar promos. The New Jersey MC simply executed the idea better than everyone else. Red left no stone unturned, opting to satire cable television as a whole, coloring each sequence with his signature comedic twist.
Directed by Julian Lutz aka Director X, Redman interjects himself into mock soda commercials, talk shows, and reality tv spoofs. A protege of director Hype Williams, X may be somewhat responsible for the trends in hip hop videos that he successfully lampooned. Over the next two decades, X would lend his lens to such acts as Usher, Nelly Furtado, and Kendrick Lamar.
I still wonder to this day whatever happened to the model who crashed her bike into Redman’s car and flipped over the hood. I hope my girl is ok. Someone check in on her for the Kid.
#14 baby one more time - britney spears
I’d be undermining the legitimacy of this list if I didn’t acknowledge the zeitgeist that was Britney’s 1999 juggernaut “Hit Me Baby”. Rolling Stone has called Brit’s titular debut single “one of the greatest debut singles of all time” The song seemed to be on intergalactic repeat, being played every hour, on the hour on damn near every pop video and radio channel.
Director Nigel Dick filmed the video in the same high school that provided the backdrop for “Grease”. Dick turned a 17 dollar outfit bought at KMart into one of the most iconic two pieces in pop culture. Much to the dismay of the “barely legal” smut fans everywhere, the video was retired by TRL in 2008. If Smells Like Teen Spirit was responsible for the grunge movement of the 90s, Hit Me Baby may just be its 00s counterpart, laying down the cultural vibe that would dominate the next decade.
And it only took her 3 and a half minutes flat.
#13 Gimmie some more - BUSTA RHYMES
The fact that Busta Rhymes never ascended to hip hop GOAT-dom has always baffled me. The man has the most skilled diction and enunciation of any MC this side of Eminem. With that said, it may be possible that his career suffered from Weezer – itis, which is when you drop a video that encapsulates your sound, the track, and your vision so well, there really isn’t much else you can do to top it. For Busta Rhymes that video was “Gimmie Some More”, a colorful, manic, splice that envisions damn near every word of his lyrical bombardment.
Directed by Hype Williams with his trademark fisheye lens on full tilt, “Gimme Some More” put Busta and his signature flow front and center. An absurdist wet dream, our boy Rhymes swaps costumes as often as his flow, a police officer, a boxer, a cowboy and a blue monster just shits and giggles. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall as they storyboarded this one.
#12 BLACK HOLE SUN - SOUNDGARDEN
The members of Seattle’s Soundgarden were insanely picky about their music videos, identifying “Black Hole Sun” as one of the few they were satisfied with, and it’s not hard to see why. Inspired by the plain wrap pastel neighborhood featured in Edward Scissorhands, director Howard Greenhalgh presents the residents as vain and oblivious. Exaggerated smiles that stretch from one side of the frame to the other, they carry on about their business, blissfully unaware that the sun has turned inside out into a black hole, moments away from swallowing them whole.
The third single from their phenomenal release Superunknown, features the band playing in a field, decidedly uninterested in the apocalypse that has begun around them. Two versions of the video aired on MTV, the crude original aired for two weeks before being replaced by an updated edit with brighter colors and additional cgi effects. Greenhalgh would helm the lens for P. Diddy and Jimmy Page’s Come With Me from the 98′ Godzilla soundtrack, along with several videos for the Pet Shop Boys.
Watching the fall of white suburbia has never been so much fun.
#11 PARANOID ANDROID - RADIOHEAD
. Capitol Records encouraged the band to drop a catchy radio tune to introduce their new album Ok Computer. The band instead released the 6 minute, harmonically adventurous Paranoid Android. Forever a rebel , Thome Yorke commissioned Swedish animator Magnus Carlsson to direct the subtly twisted video for Radiohead’s record. After the rise of the Simpsons and Beavis and Butthead, adult animation was all the rage in the mid 90’s. Carlsson took full advantage creating a clip illustrating a day in the life of a boy who escapes the vulgar pettiness of reality into his imagination.
Carlson’s character Robin, ripped from his own cartoon series of the same name, ventures into the city drinking with his unnamed friend. They encounter a prostitute, a man with a face in his belly, and a corrupt politician who mutilates himself trying to awaken robin from his daydream. MTV placed the video in heavy rotation in 97′ pushing Ok Computer to 7.8 million in sales, and helping secure Carlson an animated series of his own, Lisa , debuting in 98.
Take that Capitol Records.
#10 U.N.I.T.Y - QUEEN LATIFAH
Let’s be honest here, feminism has never been Hip Hops strong suit. Despite credible efforts by female artists such as Yo Yo, Mc Lyte, and Sister Souljah, the hip hop videos of the 90s seemed content to visualize black women as mere ornaments and window dressing. Queen Latifah aimed to change all that, the image of the Queen in tall black boots and sunglasses, rapping aggressively at a building of men from a fork lift was iconic . She wasn’t in the mood to prove that she was an MC worthy of respect, she was taking it, and putting a culture of chauvinism on alert. Black women were not taking it any more, don’t act like the queen didn’t tell you.
Directed by Mark Gerard, who would go on to direct “Aaliyah Are You That Somebody?” And Everclear’s “Santa Monica”, “U.N.I.T.Y” was one of the earliest examples of black feminism i recall. Riding a motorcycle in tribute to her late brother Lance, Queen Latifah did not beat around the bush. The behavior rappers prided themselves on was, in reality, unacceptable. A poignant call to action, she laid down the facts quite flat, from this point on violence towards women would be answered in kind, as it should be.