The 5 Best Videos Of The Week

The 5 Best Videos Of The Week

This was a week crammed full of great videos, way too many to fit onto this list. But my favorite subplot was this: Taylor Swift drummed up weeks of hype and probably spent a fortune to make her kung-fu feminist G.I. Joe cameo party and to unveil it in the biggest way possible for a music video to be unveiled in 2015. And it worked. The thing has like 47 million views already, and it’s a great video. But culturally at least, it was immediately overshadowed by Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé shooting water guns and sharing Now & Laters and then putting it on their goofy streaming service. It seems ridiculous to say this in praise of a Beyoncé video, but sometimes style trumps budget. This week’s picks are below.

5. Lieutenant – “Believe The Squalor” (Dir. Matt Kubas)

If actual non-parody black metal videos were more like this, I’d probably listen to more black metal.

4. Meek Mill – “Monster” (Dir. Spike Jordan)

Somebody please put together a rap version of American Graffiti and cast Meek Mill as the lead. You wouldn’t even have to change the title!

3. Taylor Swift – “Bad Blood (Remix)” (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) (Dir. Joseph Kahn)

On the one hand: Yes, this is a big and fake and drummed-up celebrity spectacle. On the other hand: The day I get tired of watching supermodels throw knives and supernova pop stars execute headscissors takedowns, you are free to shoot me in the fucking head.

2. The Mountain Goats – “The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero” (Dir. Scott Jacobson)

This mashes on so many of my nerdly pleasure zones that I almost can’t trust how much I love it. Almost. It’s pretty incredible that this great A Tribe Called Red video is only the second-best wrestling-themed music video of the week.

1. Nicki Minaj – “Feeling Myself” (Feat. Beyoncé) (Dir. ?)

I had a lot of fun at Coachella. These two had more.

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