Welcome to FACT’s newest feature: the weekly video round-up.
As we note at the end of every year, music videos have never been better. But too often, music videos — along with documentaries, live sets and interview clips — get lost in the shuffle of news and new music.
With that in mind, FACT is doing what it does for mixes, mixtapes, vinyl and more: rounding up the internet’s best videos on a weekly basis. And to remove our bias, we won’t be including our own content — you’ll have to stay tuned to FACT TV for all your Against The Clock, FACT Freestyle and Big Narstie needs.
Click the red arrow below to get started or check this out instead:
The 20 best videos of 2014
Jack White
‘That Black Bat Licorice’
Dir: James Blagden, Jack White, Brad Holland
Jack White’s increasingly eccentric record releases have left us increasingly bored, but we appreciate him aiming his experimental streak at his latest video. The three-in-one interactive experience actually works (unlike some of the other browser-sensitive attempts we’ve seen), which makes switching between the live, animated and headbanging videos quite a bit of fun. The first two act as black-white-and-blue counterpoints; if only the third could have, too.
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Brodinski feat. Bloody Jay
‘Us’
Dir: Jérémie Rozan
Brodinski celebrates the Chinese New Year with a video destined to be the subject of thinkpieces. The Parisian producer chases the dragon through Shanghai, and his drug-induced journey hitting all the easy Asian signifiers: Chinese lanterns, lotus water, mahjong games. Chinese girls twerk and make it rain to a song that features an Atlanta street rapper in FACT favorite Bloody Jay. Cultural appropriation or cross-cultural intersections? You decide.
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Ariana Grande
‘One Last Time’
Dir: Max Landis
The bittersweet EDM-pop of ‘One Last Time’ is taken to dark places in this apocalyptic, found footage one-shot video, via Chronicle director Max Landis. Grande leads the way past explosions in the sky, shotgun blasts, final prayers, bearded weirdos and more as she proves to be the weirdest pop diva we’ve got. As for those plagiarism claims, there are at least two videos with similar palettes and concepts, and as one of the bands in question writes: “Everyone likes one shot end of the world videos – you aren’t special folks.”
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Sleater-Kinney
‘A New Wave’
Bob’s Burgers is one of the best comedies on television — animated or not — and while the show’s creators usually come up with their own musical numbers, their latest dance party is scored by Sleater-Kinney’s ‘A New Wave’. Tina, Louise and Gene rock it out with Carrie, Corin and Janet in this psychedelic clip, because of course Tina is a riot grrrl.
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Suicideyear
‘Interest’
Dir: Serena Forghieri
In line for his reissue of Japan, Suicideyear replaces .L.W.H.’s original video for ‘Interest’ with a reimagined (and found footage-free) creation by Serena Forghieri. Digital rain and spindly geometry manifest as some sort of futuristic Magic Eye (and it’s not a schooner or a sailboat).
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Father feat. ILoveMakonnen and RichPoSlim
‘Young Hot Ebony’ Remix
Dir: GIL-TA
Most rap remixes can’t hold a candle to the original, no matter the guest star. That’s not the case with the title track to Father’s breakthrough album, which finds new life in its guest-heavy remix. Rising star iLoveMakonnen and rapper-to-watch RichPoSlim smash ‘Young Hot Ebony’, but don’t go looking for them in the video, which instead features a crew of lip-syncers who live up to the song’s title.
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Dean Blunt
‘100’
While Dean Blunt’s ‘100’ begins with a epigraph from Idris Elba (who finds Blunt “a bit too experimental” for his tastes), we’d offer a quote of our own to describe the video for ‘100’ (via Jadakiss): “I can drive, but a boss get driven / So I’m shotgun, higher than the cost of livin’ / My seat back, my gear black, my heat black / Deserve whatever you got coming, so keep that.”
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The Holy Kit feat. Sasha Go Hard
‘I Sell Everything’
Dir: Mookie
The Lownt God becomes the first artist to turn up in the video round-up more than once with the clip for synth-blasted dealer anthem ‘I Sell Everything’. Kit and Sasha Go Hard brave the Chicago snow to peddle molly, lean and whatever you need.
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Diesle DPower feat. D Double E
‘See No Evil’
Dir: Jay Rainsley
Diesle lives up to his moniker with the explosive video for ‘See No Evil’, featuring Newham General D Double E. The two grime stars roll deep with a heavily-armed masked crew that we wouldn’t mess with; if you see them firing off a flare, run in the other direction.
Check this out this next: The 20 best videos of 2014
6 In The 876
Dir: Niko
Drake’s October’s Very Own and Popcaan’s Unruly crew first linked up in 2013 for a video and a clothing line, but further, more interesting collaborations have yet to materialize. That may be changing: OVO’s Niko presents 6 In The 876, a 22-minute, behind-the-scenes look at OVO’s most recent trip to Jamaica. While it lacks much of a narrative, the film was sampled in Drake’s next mixtape; hopefully more exchanges will follow.
Check this out this next:
The 20 best videos of 2014
