Top 10 Most Creative Music Videos of All Time

MsMojo

From stop-motion animation to mind-bending illusions, these music videos rewrote the rulebook! Join us as we count down our picks for the most creative music videos that broke new ground with innovative aesthetics or storytelling formats. Our list includes jaw-dropping visuals from legends who pushed boundaries and redefined what music videos could be!

Transcript

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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