Many artists and bands released music videos throughout the year to entertain their followers and stack up to their views. 2020 has been a tough year but regardless, these artists managed to put their creative energy into music videos that no one could look away from. Plenty of ups and downs happened but at the end of the day when we look back, there are few good things to remember. Blackpink, Salena Gomez, BTS, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, and many more artists made our quarantine simpler with their beautiful yet extra-ordinary music videos.
Here are the best music videos of 2020:
10. Ariana Grande – Positions
Just before two weeks of the Election, Ariana Grande released her incredibly mind-blowing music video for “Positions”. Directed by Dave Meyers, Ariana Grande participates in a scene-switching video that takes her from a room to the kitchen, and the bedroom. Many comments were made regarding the video where some considered it censored while some claimed Ariana found her true voice after many years. Nevertheless, the music video was a massive success and has over 150 million views on YouTube within the first month of its release.
9. Break My Heart – Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa’s new track “Break My Heart,” from her sophomore album Future Nostalgia, is about the high stakes of early romance, fuelled by the twin emotions of excitement and fear. Here is Dua Lipa’s predicament in the song: the person she has met has brought out such strong feelings in her that it has left her vulnerable.
As the lyrics suggest, this significant other could move things forward whenever they wanted to, and Lipa would be powerless to stop it. Their fateful meeting has changed everything, forever raised the stakes, and from now on it is only gonna end one of two ways: everlasting love, or a broken heart. She wishes that she had just stayed at home, a half-regret that is repeated in the lyrics at the beginning of the chorus.
8. Salena Gomez – Boyfriend
As Selena Gomez drives through the night with sunglasses on, a headscarf blowing in the wind, and a cage full of toads jerking in the trunk, we are likely to suppose we are seeing something new from her. After a recent album with very consistent central themes – breakup, heartbreak, and rebirth – this strange scene seems to promise something different. Yet, a glance at the song’s title suggests the exact opposite. “Boyfriend” is exactly the song title that listeners would expect, and perhaps groan at if they are not as caught up in the Justin Bieber saga as some die-hard fans.
7. How You LikeThat – Blackpink
Blackpink has put out another hit song named “How You Like That”. It had been over the year since their last song “Kill This Love” was released and fans were constantly demanding YG Entertainment to bring back Blackpink. They finally came back with a bang on a press conference and live event where “How You Like That” was premiered and the video is undoubtedly the best music video of 2020.
The chorus is very catchy “how you like that da da da da da” and Lisa’s solo rap is just perfect as always. The song delivers an emotional connection while making you more energetic at the same time. How You Like That has a massive fan following with over 700 million views on YouTube to date.
6. Yo Perreo Sola – Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny delivered one of his finest works on his colorful and insightful music video “Yo Perreo Sola”. The Puerto-Rican singer doubles down the primary aspect of the song portraying sexual harassment declaring “I twerk alone”. Bad Bunny explained, “I wrote the song from a woman’s perspective and I also feel like that woman sometimes”.
Yo Perreo Sola forces you to give attention to the murder of a transgender woman, Alexa Negron Luciano. Bad Bunny excelled at the injustice, sad but the truth about the media and society through his music video. Yo Perreo Sola is undoubtedly one of the best music videos of 2020.
5. Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
Directed by Anton Tammi “Blinding Lights” is another addition to “The Best of The Weeknd”. Not long ago the Weeknd was nominated for Grammy in 2015 for “Can’t feel my face” and in 2020 he is again nominated for “Binding Lights”. The song topped Radio Charts for the above 15 consecutive weeks on Billboard.
The music video opens with a madman, dripping in the blood is grinning to a journey through the nightlife of Las Vegas. The video is thrilling, jaw-dropping, and delivers a strong opening with powerful lyrics. Blinding Lights has over 300 million views on YouTube.
4. Ice Cream – Blackpink ft. Selena Gomez
Blackpink girls are back again after their recent success with “How You Like That” with a new collaboration single, “Ice Cream” featuring American pop princess Selena Gomez. The pairing of Blackpink and Selena Gomez is quite good and MV delivers some dramatic melodic moments around the chorus.
The lyrics are mostly English with few lines in Korean and the expression Selena makes is just lovely. Jennie and Selena’s vocals were sweet as sugar and how Jisoo sang those English verses is just stunning. Everyone loves over girl Lisa and her rap hits. The main vocalist Rose however didn’t get to sing more of the lyrics. I would have loved it if she had more lines on her part.
3. Dynamite – BTS
Dynamite is BTS’s first All-English track and hits all the expected marks. The song opens with Jungkook sitting in a room with posters of the Beatles’ iconic Abbey Road cover. You can also spot David Bowie next to Arnold Swarzenegger as the Terminator poster. The lyrics begin with ‘Shoes on, get up in the morn’.
I felt it a little funny when JungKook sips a cup of milk and says Cup of milk, let’s rock and roll. Few other words like “ding dong” and “cha-ching” on the lyrics and overall melody somehow remind of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. Dynamite has already broken many of BTS’s previous records with over 500 million views on YouTube.
2. WAP – Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion released the summer blockbuster under the direction of Colin Tilley and no other music video attracted the spirit like WAP. The video is glamorized using Tigers as pets likely how the Dubai prince walks around with his Tigers. It felt like a scene from a thrilling movie but also develops women’s empowerment and necessity of freedom. Few dumb controversies were raised but lastly, everyone praised the video and now it has over 300 million views by the end of the year.
1. Rain on Me – Lady Gaga ft. Ariana Grande
“Rain On Me” is set in a kind of futuristic gladiatorial arena, a deluge constantly falls while the artists engage in tightly choreographed sequences with troops of dancers behind them. We also hear Gaga adopting a low, robotic voice to combine with Grande’s high notes for the lyrics “Rain on me.” It is this kind of feature that adds a quirk to the performance, not to mention a bizarre, yet effective, chorus move that sees them all bouncing on the spot in unison, arms fixed tightly to their sides. “Rain On Me” has over 250k repeats on ListenOnRepeat and over 250 million views on YouTube.
We hope you liked our roundup of the best music videos of 2020. Stay tuned for more music blogs.
