music video
Who needs therapy when you have Navy Blue the Truest? The West Coast rapper, pro skateboarder, and model just dropped the video to his Nicholas Craven-produced song “Red Roses from his album Memoirs in Armour released back in August. Directed by Nicholas Stafford Briggs and Grayson Kohs in charge of cinematography, the video is centers […]
Lady Gaga wants to heal your “Disease.” The pop superstar dropped a music video for her latest single on Tuesday (Oct. 29). “I think a lot about the relationship I have with my own inner demons. It’s never been easy for me to face how I get seduced by chaos and turmoil. It makes me […]
Star Bandz is newest youngin’ on the scene. The teenage rapper out of Chicago has been doing her thing for a couple years, but she caught a little wave earlier this year with her breakout song “Yea Yea” where she had clever lines like, “Had to show ’em how to run the game, he got […]
Kaytranada and Childish Gambino suit up for a supernatural experience in their new “Witchy” music video, which dropped on Wednesday (Oct. 2). The collaborators and RCA labelmates post up in an intimate studio while an assortment of mesmerizing characters (and a white cat) — like four ballerinas who magically transform into an incredibly flexible male […]
After Rich Homie Quan died at age 33 on Sept. 5, his friends, family and the hip-hop community are still in mourning. The song was previously shared during Quan’s funeral, and now the rapper’s team and family have released a music video for his posthumous single “Song Cry.” Rich Homie Quan had already started shooting […]
ScHoolboy Q flooded the streets today by dropping three videos from his critically-acclaimed album Blue Lips. First, we have “THank god 4 me” (directed by Omar Jones,) which opens with someone wearing a wire as he gets ready to hop in a detective’s car. The rest of the video is a series of dream sequences […]
The Alchemist and ScHoolboy Q link up once again on the producer’s lead single from his upcoming album The Genuine Articulate and he’s going to be rapping on this one. “Ferraris in the Rain” features Alchemist hoppin’ out various luxury vehicles to lay down some heat. “Look, I whip the ‘Rari in the rain/Ice in […]
The rollout for The Weeknd‘s Hurry Up Tomorrow album is well underway, as he announced Monday (Sept. 9) that lead single “Dancing in the Flames” will be released on Friday. The Weeknd performed “Dancing in the Flames” and more new Hurry Up Tomorrow tracks for the first time at his special one-night-only São Paulo, Brazil […]
Both repping Griselda, Buffalo’s Daringer and Brooklyn’s Streetz continue rap’s age old “He’s the DJ (or producer), I’m the rapper” tradition that has worked so well in the past and in recent years. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Today, not only did they announce the title […]
This year’s MTV Video Music Awards will take place Sept. 11, a full four decades since the first VMAs helped the nascent cable network make a place for itself, as well as the music video format. Back then, some executives already had a crystal-clear picture of its possibilities, while others just saw static. Video eventually migrated from TV screen to mobile phone, cable to Internet. Billboard has been binge-watching the entire time.
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Monkee Business
Groups from ABBA to Queen had made videos since the 1970s, but it took one of The Monkees to see the future. A full year before MTV went live, the March 1, 1980, issue of Billboard reported on Mike Nesmith’s Nickelodeon TV series, Popclips. “The concept is to feature video images with songs separated by a videodisk jockey,” an article explained. Nesmith predicted that “every professional musician” would soon have to adapt. Was this “MTV see, Monkee do”?
Full Speed Ahead
Then came the new wave flood. Elektra chairman Bob Krasnow told Billboard in an Aug. 25, 1984, article that “MTV exposure for the accompanying videos” fueled The Cars’ Heartbeat City album. Others hit the brakes. “I think those people who are out spending, trying to cash in on new technology, will get their fingers burned,” predicted another executive in the same issue. A Sept. 1, 1984, op-ed shared a fear that video would kill the radio star: “How many of the superstars of yesterday… would be denied contracts in 1984 because of a perceived ‘lack of viability’ as video artists?”
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Ride the Wave
Fans wanted their MTV. “Our research shows that young record buyers are greatly affected by the channel’s airplay and promotional efforts,” reported the Sept. 8, 1984, Billboard, and “40.1% of those influenced by MTV” preferred new wave. That was reflected by the winners at the first VMAs, which took place Sept. 14, 1984, including The Cars, Cyndi Lauper and Eurythmics. But the big winner was the channel itself. “When MTV signed on in August 1981,” declared the Oct. 13, 1984, issue, “music videos changed the face of rock in the blink of an eye.”
Computer Love
With the new millennium came a new frontier. In the Sept. 4, 2004, issue, Billboard predicted that “two new mobile platforms hitting the market this year” — the Palm and Pocket PC — “represent what will become a powerful new way to distribute and consume music and music videos.” Handheld devices, it predicted, would “become a key part of the modern lifestyle.”
YouTube-ular
By the mid-2000s, industry executives longed for reruns of the days “when music videos, not longform reality and lifestyle programs, ruled the roost at MTV,” reported the Feb. 12, 2005, issue. “My biggest disappointment is that there’s no longer an ‘M’ for music in MTV,” said Clive Davis. And as the airwaves dried up, data streams began to flow. The Oct. 14, 2006, issue reported that “online sites such as MySpace, YouTube and Yahoo are pursuing [MTV’s] audience” for music videos. Seven years later, the Billboard Hot 100 began blending YouTube streams into its data pool.
This story appears in the Aug. 31, 2024, issue of Billboard.