00:00My future is coming on, it's coming on, it's coming on
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most creative music videos
00:10that broke new ground with innovative aesthetics or storytelling formats
00:1510. Virtual Insanity, Jamiroquai
00:25Videos like this show that long before the high-tech era, a little creativity could go a very long way
00:32and there was practically nothing high-tech here
00:34Who can tell what magic spells we'll be doing for us?
00:39With some wheels and clever off-camera teamwork, they pulled off the illusion of a moving set
00:44It looks like the floor is shifting, but it's actually the walls and furniture being wheeled around
00:49Add in a few well-placed camera angles and suddenly it feels like one continuous sequence
00:54At first, director Jonathan Glazer's crew thought the idea was completely bonkers
01:07But J.K. saw the vision
01:08It's often considered one of the greatest music videos of all time
01:12Winning four awards, including Video of the Year at the VMAs
01:169. Ashes to Ashes, David Bowie
01:27Co-directors Bowie and David Mallet really splashed out here
01:31At the time, it was the most expensive music video ever made
01:35and still ranks among the priciest today
01:38But every penny went into creating a surrealist fever dream
01:48Using a program called Paintbox
01:50It was a spearhead for graphics back then
01:52Which they used to play with the color palette and give everything an ethereal glow
01:57The video pushes the envelope by telling a story through abstract imagery
02:09Rather than a neat linear plot
02:11Bowie drew from cinema, subcultures, and even religion to shape it
02:15The result feels like one of those vivid dreams that haunt you long enough after you wake up
02:20It redefined what a music video could be
02:308. 9-1-1, Lady Gaga
02:33Lady Gaga has always pushed boundaries
02:36But 9-1-1 feels like a league of its own
02:38She said it was inspired by her own struggles with mental health
02:41And how our conscious and subconscious minds overlap
02:45My biggest enemy is me, welcome 9-1-1
02:49The video is loaded with symbols and references to films like The Color of Pomegranates
02:57At first, viewers are swept into a dreamlike fantasy world
03:01But the final twist reveals it's all a hallucination in Gaga's mind
03:05It's not well with alternative love
03:07I beat myself in beautiful places
03:09Powered faces in my hand
03:11Suddenly, the colorful characters are shown as paramedics, police, and bystanders
03:16At the scene of a brutal car crash
03:18That shocking reveal grounds all that abstract imagery in reality
03:22It becomes a powerful yet vulnerable statement about trauma and searching for heroes within us
03:287. Fell in love with a girl
03:38The white stripes
03:40This one's for the Lego lovers
03:42Ever built a Lego set and then tried making a little stop-motion movie?
03:46That's basically what's happening here, just on a much bigger scale
03:58Funny story, they couldn't get Lego to sponsor it, so they just bought bucket loads of bricks themselves
04:04Lego's been popular forever because it lets people turn their wildest ideas into reality
04:08Which really comes into play here
04:18It even won them 3 VMAs
04:20Some shots are real Lego stop-motion
04:22Others are digitally tweaked to move
04:24And honestly, you can't even tell the difference
04:26It's a perfect mashup of reality and imagination
04:30And it shows that when it comes to creativity
04:32Everything really does click
04:34Number 6
04:40This is America
04:41Childish Gambino
04:42In 2016, Beyonce took the world by storm when she demanded we all get in formation
04:56She celebrated black culture while calling out oppression
04:59A theme Childish Gambino would push even further in his groundbreaking 2018 hit This is America
05:05It's a powerful commentary on US socio-politics
05:09Packed with anti-racism and anti-violence imagery
05:21Not to mention calling out police brutality
05:23Which disproportionately impacts the black community
05:25If we listed every illusion here
05:27You'd probably be shocked at how many you missed
05:31I'm gonna get it
05:32I'm gonna get it
05:33What's we do?
05:34Huh?
05:35Come on
05:36This is selling
05:37That's a tool
05:38Yeah
05:39But don't worry, that's kinda the point
05:41You're supposed to be distracted by the happy dancing at the forefront
05:44While chaos erupts behind it all
05:46If that makes you feel uncomfortable, then the video's doing its job
05:50Get your money, Batman, Batman
05:52Get your money, Batman, Batman, Batman, Batman
05:53Get your money, Batman, Batman, Batman, Batman
05:565
05:57All is Full of Love
05:58Bjerk
05:59You probably guessed it was only a matter of time before Bjerk showed up on this list
06:03And here she is
06:05She's famous for her avant-garde style both onstage and in music videos
06:18music videos, and it's her commitment to staying true to that vision that makes her
06:22work feel timeless, or even ahead of its time.
06:25This video features two Bjork-esque humanoid robots exploring intimacy, apparently inspired
06:31by the Kama Sutra.
06:35Y2K had yet to roll around, and we already had a video pondering how love and connection
06:44might evolve in a high-tech-driven world.
06:47It's a brilliant mix of art, technology, and the core of what makes us human.
06:51If anything, it's even more thought-provoking today.
06:564.
07:02This too shall pass, OK Go.
07:04OK, go find just one music video that highlights this group's reputation for creativity and
07:10innovation.
07:11They first made a name with treadmills and here it goes again, and kept raising the bar with
07:15the one moment, needing getting, and upside down and inside out.
07:20This too shall pass even got two music videos.
07:24For the second one, they built an enormous Rube Goldberg machine that moves perfectly in sync
07:34with the song, all captured in a single continuous take.
07:37With a tight budget, they repurposed trash to build it, spending more than a month constructing it.
07:51The final result was mesmerizing, went viral immediately, and was even considered for a
07:55spot in YouTube and the Guggenheim's YouTube play, a biennial of creative video.
08:02Number 3, Black or White, Michael Jackson.
08:17It's tough to pick just one Michael Jackson video, especially with Thriller and Remember
08:22for the time to consider.
08:23But Black or White really takes the cake for how far it pushed expectations.
08:35The face-morphing effect was mind-blowing back then.
08:38You just didn't see that kind of tech outside of Hollywood, and it sent a strong message
08:42about unity and equality.
08:44But it didn't stop at special effects.
08:46He filled the video with dancers from around the world, showcasing diverse cultures.
08:58He was also one of the first major artists to include Native Americans in a video not
09:03fronted by Native Americans.
09:05Between the bold visuals, clever edits, and unforgettable imagery, it's brave,
09:10it's risky, and utterly creative.
09:21Number 2, Take On Me.
09:25This video is instantly recognizable, but it actually wasn't the first one made for the song.
09:31The version we all know became famous for blending live-action with sketch-style animation,
09:36giving it that comic book feel.
09:43They used a process called rotoscoping, which meant tracing over live footage frame-by-frame.
09:49In total, they apparently traced around 3,000 frames, which took almost four months to complete.
09:55While other artists have used animation, this one showed how it could be pushed further to tell
10:09a story in a completely new way.
10:11It won six VMAs, got covered and parodied endlessly, and proved music videos could be just as inventive
10:18as the songs themselves.
10:30Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:35Breathe Me.
10:36See Ya.
10:37They compiled an incredible 2,500 Polaroid pictures to create this video.
10:41Beasty Boys.
10:49If you love 70s cop shows, then this probably ranks high on your personal music video list.
11:04Weapon of Choice.
11:05Fatboy Slim featuring Bootsy Collins.
11:08Just Christopher Walken showing off his dance training and creating music video history.
11:22Money for Nothing.
11:23Dire Straits.
11:25A pioneer in incorporating CGI animation into a music video.
11:29That ain't working, that's the way you do it.
11:33Money for nothing and you're just free.
11:37Around the World.
11:38Daft Punk.
11:39Brilliantly using choreographed characters to represent the band.
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12:07Number 1.
12:08Sledgehammer.
12:09Peter Gabriel.
12:10Elvis Costello is considered one of the first artists to use animation in a music video.
12:16However, Peter Gabriel really went next level with Sledgehammer.
12:20He pulled out all the stops, or should we say stop motion, even throwing in some claymation for good measure.
12:35He teamed up with Aardman Animations, you know, the Wallace and Gromit guys, and spent a mind-boggling 16 hours under glass to get the shots.
12:44In total, filming took around 100 hours with each moment being created from 25 different snaps.
12:51It all leads to this incredible finale, where Gabriel is at the center of a spinning spiral of people.
13:05The video became MTV's most played and won 9 VMAs, including Video of the Year.
13:11Which music video would you have added to the list?
13:23Let us know in the comments!
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