The 9 best music videos of 2021 (so far)

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love music videos. I think they can be so imperative to understanding the music, understanding the artist or band. They can allow you to take a deeper look into the meaning of the song. They can tell a story, whether similar or not to the actual meaning of the song. Sometimes they're just performance videos. Regardless, one way or another, they still let you see how an artist visualizes a song. They can communicate to the listener through visuals instead of just sounds and words and it can really change the game.

Some artists choose to create whole universes in the music videos, to create a whole series from them, or to tell this insane story that perhaps seem to have absolutely nothing, yet at the same time, absolutely everything, to do with the meaning of the song. Sometimes music videos are nothing more than a performance, sure, but to most artists, everything has a meaning. Music videos, to me, are such an exciting medium for artists and bands to be able to speak through. The only limits to them are your imagination, especially these days with all of our technology and film equipment and editing software.

Now, with that said, some music videos can be incredibly disappointing as they seem to exist just for the fact that the band or artist needed a music video, or the just, quite simply, fall short. But that's not what I'm writing about here. Nah -- we're not about the shortcomings this week. Instead, we're going to look at what I consider to be the best nine music videos to have come out so far this year, being at the end of June and halfway through and whatnot.

Also, as a sidenote, these aren't really in a particular order, just the order in which they're queued on my YouTube as I write. With that said, you'll definitely be able to tell which are my absolute favorites. To be clear, I'm not really in the business of deciphering music videos and their meaning -- at least not publicly, maybe in my brain -- I'm no Game Theorist but for music videos -- so most of these explanations aren't going to have to do too much with specific meanings. Also (lot of sidenotes, here I know), why nine, you might ask. Well, it would've been more if I included multiple by some artists, but I only wanted to highlight what I'd consider their best so not one or two artists dominate this list. And while there have been many music videos that have been released this year, not all of them are as notable as the nine I mention below.

"CLOUDS" | NF

This music video debuted back in February, making it one of the oldest ones on this list. "CLOUDS" is the title track for NF's 2021 mixtape. To say that this music video is incredible is an understatement. Seriously. The edits and the perfectly timed cuts are amazing. As someone who edits videos for fun, that kind of precision is so hard to do. Like every cut is pretty much flawless and a perfect transition. And there's so many of them (8, to be precise, plus another transition that's not exactly the same as the others) . And they're perfect -- on beat, perfectly line up shots, perfectly lined up movements -- it literally just seems like only the background changes and never NF himself. Now, are all of them perfect? Nah, but pretty damn close. This one, quite honestly, makes the list specifically for the edits -- and that's also why it makes my all-time top ten music video list, but that's for another day, perhaps.

If you really enjoyed this one, definitely check out his others, NF is an incredible storyteller through both music and visuals -- which is very notable in his music video for "STORY" that came out this year, which would've made the list if I didn't knock all bands and artists to a one music video max.

"You'd Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)" | Waterparks

This was Waterpark's second-to-last music video before the release of their fourth album, Greatest Hits (although, their third-to-last single prior to the drop) with a release in April, making it the fourth music video of the album. It's such a fun music video, with bright colors, sticking to the album's color theme of red, blue and yellow. And the quality itself is so crystal clear and precise. Don't even get me started on the way the end flows right back into the beginning. Or the spinning camera shots in the second chorus. Or how the final chorus literally looks like it could be a cell phone commercial -- if you don't know what I mean by this, I think you should watch it specifically to find out what I'm talking about because it's honestly incredible.

Similar to NF, this was not the only Waterparks' music video I had contemplated putting on this list. So I feel super obliged to tell you that if you liked this one, to check out their music video for "Violet!" or "Numb" (maybe -- little suggestion here -- "Numb" and then "Violet!" for reasons that'll be clear if you watch them).

"3 O'Clock Things" | AJR

"3 O'Clock Things" is by far the most recent video on this list, having just come out last week. When I was prepping for this post, my plan was to include "Way Less Sad," or even perhaps "OK Overture," but when I watched this one I was filled with nostalgia and a bit of happiness. "3 O'Clock Things" is easily one of my favorite songs on the album, so that also definitely helped put it ahead a little too.

The video is a nod to their previous music videos, from as far back as their videos from their second full length The Click, all the way to as recently as their other videos from OK Orchestra, including "Way Less Sad" and "OK Overture." The big difference? Instead of starring Jack Met alongside the other brothers Adam and Ryan as per usual, it stars Ezra Donellan -- AJR's lighting designer. He dons all the same outfits and similar mannerisms and even gets to wear Jack's infamous hat throughout. It's kind of scary how similar they look if you aren't really paying attention -- almost like a discount or Walmart Jack. There's a lot of jokes in the comments about that kind of thing, if you want some other amusement.

But seriously though, the amount of dedication and precision it takes to replicate these shots from their previous music videos almost consistently to a T is insane. From the lighting to the wardrobe to the actions and mannerisms to the camera angel and the editing -- the amount of work that went into that replication is, well, it's a lot. Like really the only video they didn't nail to a T was "Bang!" but that's literally only because it's not on the set. Outside of that, the actions, the camera angels, the zooms -- they're all identical. They didn't deep fake their own videos, as a lot of people actually assumed they did. They actually reshot them all. And the bonus comparisons at the end are such a treat. If you're not super familiar with the band and their videos, than this one probably isn't going to be as fun for you as it would be for someone who is. Regardless, though, it's a lighthearted video for a seemingly lighthearted song. It's fun, it's upbeat, it's energetic. It's super well shot and edited. It's easily worth a watch.

"Nice Now" | Point North

Released in May, "Nice Now" is Point North's first single since the release of their debut album Brand New Vision back in August of last year. The video follows a bear who keeps getting picked on and beat up by everyone he passes, including cameos from the band in costume as old people and from their friends. It accumulates to the bear breaking down in the bathroom and then hyping himself up before joining the trio in the garage performing. You see him getting back at those who had hurt him previously in the video (although, not always in the way you may think). It's an oh-so lighthearted video that really fits the song. I mean, quite literally, that is to an extent what the song's about. About being picked on, bullied, looked down on, laughed at, beat up and then suddenly, when you make something of yourself, they come crawling back like nothing happened, like they did nothing to you, and now trying to be nice. It's a video that doesn't take itself seriously. Sometimes you really need those.

"Once In A Lifetime" | All Time Low

Following the success of their 2020 album Wake Up, Sunshine, and its single "Monsters," All Time Low start to turn the page with "Once In A Lifetime." After 18 years of being a band, this song sees them use their name in a song for the first time. I've mentioned this in a previous post, but I've discovered this year that I love when songs are titled phrases that are commonly positive but are instead used as a negative -- "Once In a Lifetime" pretty much started that. But that has nothing to do with the video. Honestly, the video's just fun. That's really it. There's nothing really more to it. Also, I am absolutely obsessed with the whole polaroid/old-school film aesthetic it's got occasionally throughout, plus the super aesthetic switch into nighttime with the color change. It's a story, a performance and aesthetic video all rolled up to one.

"Choker" | twenty one pilots

"Choker" is twenty one pilots' second single (and video) following the announcement of their newest album, Scaled And Icy. It's a pretty stark contrast to the video for "Shy Away," which was, at its core, just an aesthetic performance music video. This one actually tells a story. It kind of seems like a random story that seemingly has nothing to do with the meaning of the song -- but, hey, maybe it does, I haven't really delved into the meaning of the video or the song or the album, so maybe there's something I'm missing, I'm not an expert. The story here is pretty self-explanatory at a surface level: Tyler Joseph goes into a store where Josh Dun works, a dragon figurine catches his attention, he tries to get Josh's attention to ask about it but Josh ignores him, Tyler turns away and a blue light flashes behind him. Tyler goes back to the case to discover that the dog that was resting next to the counter is now a figurine in the glass case. This time, Josh takes the dragon figurine out for Tyler, he takes it and runs, Josh chases him, and catches him, and then Tyler is now a bobble head in the glass case. It takes place at local (local as in Columbus, OH where they're from)vintage toys and collectibles shop called Big Fun.

I don't really care much for the whole lore of twenty one pilots and the cliqque and all that, so the videos not really on here because of that big scheme of things. It's on here as a stand alone video because it tells an almost ridiculous story. It's imaginative and because of that it's just fun. And, as per usual with twenty one pilots, the quality is fantastic. It's funny -- to me at least-- because this is the only video on this list where I don't really care for the song itself but I do really like the video.

"Venus Fly Trap" | MARINA

"Venus Fly Trap" is off of MARINA's most recent album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, dropping just a few days before the album's release earlier this month. According to MARINA herself, the song's "a celebration of self ownership, confidence and joy that comes from truly being free." The video takes on stereotypical female roles in movies, from the New Wave woman, the silent film star, the horror flick chick, the Q.T. cutie, and the action angel (those names according to the video's credits). The song is catchy, the video is fun, colorful and kind of aesthetic and definitely on point with those stereotypes, and on top of that, the choreography is so good -- it's fitting, flows well, and is lighthearted and fun. All in all, it's such a good video, beginning to end. All of its elements work together perfectly. It's fun and lighthearted and a great watch.

"IDGAF" | AS IT IS

"IDGAF" is AS IT IS' first single since the release of their third album, The Great Depression, in 2018 (well, they've technically since released a reimagined version of it, but this is the first taste at new music). Between now and then, the band has gained a member, and then amicably lost two others, which left just a trio remaining. This song sees a return to their heavier roots. And -- I know technically the song itself isn't what I'm discussing here but I gotta -- it's such a good song. Like it's so good. The video is mostly a performance video, but it has a tad bit of plot with shadow monsters, which perfectly reflects the meaning behind the song, as well as its tone. Also, just in general, AS IT IS is always a fun band to watch perform. They get so into their music and their so passionate about it and they really feel it. And that makes it fun to watch. Plus there's something just so aesthetic about it all -- I guess, well, if you're into that dark kind of aesthetic. Makes me super amped for whatever's coming next from them.

"Upside Down" | nothing,nowhere.

This one almost nearly didn't make it. Dropped the same day as nothing,nowhere.'s most recent album Trauma Factory, the video for "Upside Down" mainly made this list because of the editing. All the stop motion involved in creating this music video -- it's really impressive. I've done some stop motion for a class on a really small scale -- it's not exactly easy. It requires such precision and attention to detail and also patience. There's also a certain old school aesthetic to this video. Plus it's Joe with a manbun (that fact pretty much broke the chat during the album release listening party). It's just such an interesting video, basically aesthetic meets performance, and I cannot begin to imagine how long it must've took to put together with all the little pieces.

There you have it -- my top nine favorite music videos that's come out so far in this first half of 2021. Some of these videos I could genuinely talk about for hours.

There's been so many videos that have dropped this year, so if I've missed your favorite let me know! If you also just don't watch music videos, hopefully this helps you get started, because a whole new world could open up to you when you actually pay attention to the music videos that bands or artists put out.