The best music videos of the 21st Century... so far

Directed by: Hiro Murai

A video, and song, that has aged like a fine wine. Everything showcased here is even more relevant now than when it was released. Childish Gambino has created a parable for the ages - one that focuses on the fully fledged fire that appears with when sparks of hatred appear.

Directed by: Spike Jonze

Maybe one of the best music videos of all time, this won six MTV awards in the year of its release and features Christopher Walken dancing - and flying!- around an empty LA Marriott. If watching this doesn’t bring a smile to your face you might be dead inside.

Directed by: Damian Kulash, Trish Sie

It’s hard to describe the impact this video had on the Internet in an era before TikTok, memes or YouTube’s first birthday. OK Go suck (sorry) but this is a stellar piece of gym-based choreography. It’s also a lot harder than it looks, as discovered by the many, many people who tried to recreate its beauty.

Directed by: Johan Renck

The most poignant video on this list, given it was released within days of David Bowie passing away, the video Lazarus is a masterclass in surreal symbolism, showcasing a chameleon-like Bowie bowing out. Director Johan Renck was one of the few people in the world to know that Bowie was dying and this is a fitting farewell as any.

Directed by: Bryan Barber

This list would be a LIE if Outkast didn’t win at least one year. Pretty much every music video featuring Andre 3000 and Big Boi could be on a best of all time list, and this bonkers piece of cinematography is one of their best. Featuring some heavy green screen usage, the video sees Outkast in a mechanics garage, an ornate ballroom, the plains of Africa and also features a light saber fight in a Japan and some truly great dancing. It’s gloriously ridiculous and a whole lot of fun.

Directed by: Jake Nava

A masterpiece of choreography and video work, this is hands down the best video of 2008 if not *Kanye voice* OF ALL TIME! (Sorry Taylor).

Directed by: Romain Gavras

Filmed in Morocco and featuring incredible footage of the country’s drag racing scene, this video gave us one of the best images ever: MIA filing her nails on top of a MOVING SIDEWAYS BMW. I have watched it 12 times in a row now and every time is somehow better than the last. Be good to yourself and watch in 1080p for the full jaw-dropping experience.

Directed by Sia and Daniel Askill

One of the most viewed music videos of all time (nearly 2.5 billion views and counting), Sia used dancer Maddie Ziegler to compliment her music and it works beautifully. Ziegler would star in more of Sia's videos and, more recently, she starred in West Side Story. They both bore the brunt of critical backlash, though, for the movie Music.

Directed by: David LaChapelle

2002, what a year. Also bringing us Justin Timberlake - ‘Senorita’, Missy Elliot - ‘Work It’, Kylie Minogue’s ‘Come Into My World’ and P.Diddy’s ‘Bad Boy For Life’ video featuring more celebrities than a red carpet, this one was a hard decision. But Christina Aguilera’s iconic comeback video takes the crown if only for the shock factor: I remember exactly where I was when I first saw it and I’m willing to bet cold hard cash that you do too.

Directed by: Specter Berlin

Perhaps the most controversial video on this list but we wouldn't expect anything else from Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. Over the course of its 9 minutes, this epic moves swiftly through the grizzly history of Germany, from 16AD all the way up to the present. There's A LOT of fighting - from Roman legionnaires to knights to East Berlin communists and disturbing Holocaust scenes. The whole thing is watched over by some sort of queen and jaw dropping and not for the faint of heart.

Directed by: The Little Homies, Colin Tilley

Kendrick is a master of the music video, and another artist who could’ve had the best video of the year literally every year he’s put one out. Shot beautifully on black and white, ‘Alright’ is a beautiful display of black joy in the face of police brutality.

Directed by: Wolf Haley

2011 was the year we were introduced to (now) cult skate-rap super crew Odd Future, and Tyler’s simple yet sinister visuals are a perfect accompaniment to the dark beat and flow of debut track ‘Yonkers’. Trigger warning: suicide and also a huge cockroach.

Director: Charli XCX, Sarah McColgan

Featuring almost every hot boy in the world pandering to the female gaze with cuddly toys, inflatable flamingoes and milk mustaches, this sugary fun-filled visual was the antidote we all needed in the garbage fire that was 2017 as a year.

Directed by: Hype Williams

Another champion of the music video is Mr. Kanye West. Directed by master of the medium Hype Williams and featuring some of the era’s most famous video vixens as moving magazine covers, this video is a joy to watch due its exceptional use of colour and lighting. And Jamie Foxx.

Directed by: Tom Kuntz

One of the very best songs of the 2000s also has a stunning video, which features James Murphy's face in face paint channeling his inner Peter Gabriel, while the band eventually appear in the background and rain starts to pour on to him. Epic stuff.

Directed by: Spike Jonze and Ty Evans

Skateboarding and explosions soundtracked by this airy gem of a track.

Directed by: Hype Williams

This is early 2000’s hip-hop opulence at its finest: yachts, cigars, mansions, money being thrown into the air and approximately 6 million beautiful women having champagne poured on them. A golden era.

Directed by: Paul Hunter

Another huge year for the music video (honourable mentions to Kelis’s ‘Milkshake’, Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya’, White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’ and Benni Benassi ‘Satisfaction’) - but Pharrell’s ‘Frontin’ is the winner if only because it made literally the entire world develop a crush on the N.E.R.D. front-man. It’s also one of those videos that can be used as a time capsule for if the aliens ever come to visit and want to know what 2003 was like - low-rise jeans, trucker caps, a skate ramp in the living room and Jay-Z’s verse being delivered on the display screen of a digital camera. What a time!

Directed by: Melina Matsoukas

WHERE TO BEGIN. This colourful and cartoon-filled Caribbean banger sees the queen of the region herself rocking some sensational outfits including a STUDDED GOLD BODYSUIT and THOSE BOOTS. She also plays the drums, simulates having sex with a lion and looks down a male dancer’s trousers whilst singing “is you big enough”. What more do you need?

Directed by: Bradley & Pablo

Before the song was shot even further into the stratosphere thanks to TikTok virality (via the Watermelon sugar / Seaside SEB mashup), the video for Styles' brilliant solo hit is a sun-drenched double entendre masterclass.

Directed by: David Fincher

Before he shot to fame in Hollywood, David Fincher was one of the best music video directors around. Suit & Tie brought him back to the format with this superb video that has echoes of Madonna's genre-breaking Vogue video, which was directed by... David Fincher.

Directed by: Petra Collins

One of the most infectious songs of the decade is paired with a video where abject rage has never looked so sweet. It wouldn't work without Rodrigo absolutely bossing the acting in the video and that's exactly what she does. It's also packed with homages, from Jennifer's Body to The Princess Diaries and, surprisingly, the controversial J-Horror Audition.