Author: Daniel Truog
As KXSU’s Videographer Emeritus, a title which I both invented and granted myself, I consider myself an esteemed connoisseur of the videography field. Given this knowledge, I deemed it necessary that I ride on up to the KXSU Blog, overseen by former KXSU colleague and current dear friend Emelia Vonada, and share my very own thoughts. On what matters, you might ask, do I deem my opinion so essential to be distributed via the Internet? Why, music videos, of course.
I’ve been watching and waiting for years, like an audiophilic Batman, music videos from across the Internet. Last year, I briefly worked on a blog article with a similar focus that never saw the light of day. Well, it’s time for the darkness of yesteryear to turn to light. Here are five of my favorite music videos from the past three years.
#1: “Gorilla” by Little Simz
The last remnant of that 2023 music video article lies in this section. Little Simz is preparing to drop a new album on June 6, titled “Lotus.” But let us not forget NO THANK YOU. This 2022 album stood out to me largely because of the song length. In a time where rap song lengths are shrinking or padded out with multiple instrumental switches, NO THANK YOU saw Simz rap for five, six, even seven minutes. Long songs like “Angel” and “Silhouette” are intense and emotional without monotony.
But on “Gorilla”, Simz shows off. “Name one time where I didn’t deliver,” she asks. Not in the Dave Meyers-directed video for this song, that’s for sure. So many moments from this video stand out to me. The choreography captures the way this song makes you want to nod your head, and the outfits are impeccable throughout. The penultimate shot of Simz with her headless entourage is unforgettable.
Where other artists slip into repetition, this video fills every moment with new twists and unique visuals. Just like in her songs, she maintains forward momentum. This video never falls into the forgettable Lyrical Lemonade paradigm of flipping through two, maybe three shots over and over, that’s led to so many nothing-burger videos over the past few years.
#2: “THAT GUY” by Tyler, the Creator
This year for my birthday, I got the best kind of gift; a gift I didn’t ask for but wanted without even knowing it. “THAT GUY” is three minutes of Tyler, the Creator rapping over my favorite instrumental from Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX,” all laid over a simple but fun visual. There are some great shots in here and cool touches, like Tyler disappearing from the frame as a car passes. After an era marked by overly serious, militaristic visuals, it was fun to see things take a more casual turn. The only sign of Chromakopia here is the mask, briefly worn by Tyler as he dances in the middle of the freeway.
Don’t view that as a rebuke of Chromakopia-era visuals, though. The explosive “ST. CHROMA” video introduced us to the album’s visual language, and I particularly love the glimpse into the creative process from “MASK IS OFF: CHROMAKOPIA”. That last one is not technically a music video, but it’s my article, and I’ll talk about that video if I want to.
#3: “City In Motion” by Yonny
Remember how I just said this was my article? Don’t forget that. I have a very special connection to this next video from a local Seattle artist. Let me tell you a story.
This story starts in the passenger seat of my friend Rohan’s car, driving to West Seattle. Last summer, we were training for a half-marathon. On the drive, Rohan pulled up on his phone “Everywhere, But Always,” by Yonny. The album wasn’t out yet, but he had an early copy because he was working on the album’s visuals.
Local music is usually like Taco Bell for me. You can find it pretty easily, but I don’t normally seek it out unless I’m hanging out with someone who really wants it. Still, I’m partial to two local Seattle acts: KXSU alums Midpak, whose In Studio I will forever regret missing, and Yonny. When I first watched his music videos, I was surprised that such well-produced videos had so few views. Sometimes that’s just how it is.
“City In Motion” is a dizzying whirlwind of a video, fitting the infectious energy of its song. There are so many cool editing tricks in here, so many places I recognize, and so much evidence of the creators’ love for Seattle and the region.
I also love the “Hood Spirituals” video, which Rohan worked on and was shot on 16mm film. No other rapper is shooting music videos on film these days, right? I digress…
#4: Honorable mention section
There are too damn many new music videos that I love for me to do a writeup for each of them. So this section will be just a little bit on a bunch of videos that are special.
A$AP Rocky – “Tailor Swif”
What on earth is this video? My parents lived in Ukraine for a few years, and based on stories they’ve told me, it was actually kind of like this, in some ways.
PinkPantheress – “Tonight”
Regency bias time… I love this song and its goofy video with amazing costumes.
Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar – “The Hillbillies”
So fun, so well edited, takes me back to the spring of 2023.
Stormzy – “Mel Made Me Do It”
“I prefer not to speak, if I speak I am in big trouble.”
Charli xcx – “Guess featuring billie eilish”
My hottest take on this whole thing may be that Brat era visuals were underwhelming, but the underwear mountain was supreme.
So with all of that out of the way, it is time for my final favorite music video of the last few years.
Dijon – Absolutely (film)
The first rule of this blog article is that I am not going to adhere to any rules. Freed from the shackles of The Spectator Style Guide (for posterity, I am currently the Sports and Opinion Editor at The Spectator), I am choosing to break every convention, even my own self-imposed structure, with this entry. I’m putting an entire album film at number 5.
Have I lost my mind? Not yet.
Last summer, I really connected with this album and the corresponding film-slash-performance video-slash-musical rage room. The off-the-rails crescendo in this version of “Scratching” brought me in, but the entire body of work took time to grow on me. When my friend Hunter first sent me this video, Absolutely was too weird and sad for me. Why do they randomly start playing the Star Spangled Banner? Why does he run away at the end? Who is that blonde guitar guy in the Totoro shirt?
Now, I get it. I learned who Mk.Gee is (yes, rabid Mk.Gee fans, he is in this, so now you have a reason to watch it). I unlocked the sadness of “Rodeo Clown”, a song that does kind of make me want to run out the door and down the street with no shoes on. The “Star Spangled Banner” part is f– hilarious. I’m more curious about how they made this at this point. If the table is any indication, lots of Pacifico.
I’ll let Dijon on “Rodeo Clown” have the last words here: “You’re missing out, you’re missing out.”
Daniel Truog I KXSU Blog Contributor and Videographer for The Spectator