music video
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Post Malone and Swae Lee‘s “Sunflower” music video officially surpassed 2 billion views on YouTube on Thursday (March 9).
Originally released in the fall of 2018, the song was part of the soundtrack for the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and also ultimately made the tracklist for Malone’s 2019 studio album Hollywood’s Bleeding.
The music video borrows a multitude of scenes from the family-friendly movie to spell out the origin story of a young Miles Morales even as the rappers take turns crooning, “Callin’ it quits now, baby, I’m a wreck/ Crash at my place, baby, you’re a wreck/ Thinkin’ in a bad way, losin’ your grip/ Screamin’ at my face, baby, don’t trip.”
“Sunflower” became Malone’s third career No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — after the 21 Savage-assisted “Rockstar” and “Psycho” featuring Ty Dolla $ign — when it reached the summit of the chart for a single week at the start of 2019. Meanwhile, it was Lee’s very first chart-topper and also scored nominations for record of the year and best pop duo/group performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
In November, the two rappers had another reason to celebrate their massive song after it achieved the record as the highest-certified single in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America at 17x Platinum.
Just a few weeks ago, the video for Posty’s 2015 breakout track “White Iverson” joined the Billion Views Club on YouTube, becoming the rapper’s fourth video to do so after “Sunflower,” “Rockstar” and “Congratulations” featuring Quavo — the latter of which is inching closer every day to the 1.5 billion mark.
Revisit the “Sunflower” music video below.
TWICE has teased its new music video…twice. Ahead of the release of the girl group’s highly-anticipated track “Set Me Free” and its accompanying video, members Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu dropped two stunning back-to-back teaser visuals on Monday (March 6) and Tuesday (March 7).
The first teaser trailer shows the ladies wiping away false eyelashes, lipstick and blush before posing as a full group, dressed in all white and looking gorgeously fresh faced. In the second teaser, they perform mesmerizing choreography starting with a single-file line, each member getting her own moment as they peel away from the line one-by-one.
Both the song and video are slated to arrive Friday (March 10), along with TWICE’s twelfth mini album Ready to Be. In addition to “Set Me Free,” the fast-approaching EP will feature the K-pop sensation’s January-released single “Moonlight Sunrise” along with four other tracks, two of which were written by Dahyun.
To celebrate, the girls will appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Thursday night (March 9).
The new teaser videos come just a week after TWICE made history as the first K-pop group to be honored at Billboard‘s Women in Music event, at which they performed “Moonlight Sunrise” and were presented with the Breakthrough Award by self-professed TWICE stan Sabrina Carpenter. “Ever since we became TWICE, we believed in each other to always be together when taking a step toward our future,” said Chaeyoung on March 1 while accepting the award.
“This moment is especially meaningful because all nine of us are standing here together in front of our fans who made our dreams come true,” she added. “This title Breakthrough Artist proves that if you confidently push for your dream, people who support you will always be your team, you will break through.”
Watch TWICE’s teaser videos for the “Set Me Free” music video below.
Harry Styles has puppy love. Dressed head-to-toe in a cartoonish dog costume, the 29-year-old pop star made a cameo in tourmate Jenny Lewis‘ new music video Monday (March 6) for her track “Puppy and a Truck” — and yes, it’s as adorable as it sounds.
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Styles’ face doesn’t appear until the very end of Lewis’ new visual, which stitches footage of her hanging out on the beach, playing with her cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel + poodle) and performing onstage as the “As It Was” singer’s opening act on his Love On Tour. Throughout much of the video, a figure dressed as a puppy with its tongue permanently stuck out is present in the background.
Then, in the last few seconds of the video, the costume-wearer removes his headpiece to reveal his true identity: Chart-topping English pop sensation Harry Styles. The musician goes on to flash a big smile at the camera and holds up two peace signs.
Lewis spent months on the road with Styles in 2021, opening for the “Watermelon Sugar” artist on a slew of his Love On Tour dates in North America. This summer, she’ll hit the road again as a headliner and as support for artists like Ruston Kelly and Beck. See a full list of dates here.
“To be on a giant stage in front of thousands of people after such a long period of isolation, those 45 minutes meeting Harry’s fans brought me back to life,” Lewis said of her time performing with Styles in a statement. “I was just trying to stay present and in the moment, and grateful to be able to share my life experiences and my songs, with such a loving audience.”
See Harry Styles crash Jenny Lewis’ “Puppy and a Truck” in the music video above.
The Kid LAROi may only be 19, but the singer has already had plenty of experience with being chased by the paparazzi and seeing fake news about himself in the tabloid press. That dark side of stardom appears to have inspired the satirical video for the singer’s new single, “I Guess It’s Love.”
In the Helmi-directed clip that dropped on Monday (Feb. 27), the Kid stars alongside his influencer/model girlfriend Katarina Deme as a photogenic, young-and-in-love celebrity couple whose every kiss and fight is caught on camera by prying eyes.
Things start off pretty cute, with LAROi pulling pranks on his beloved, jumping on a trampoline with her, sharing salty snacks, exotic vacations, poolside makeouts and plenty of intimate moments rolling around in bed. Some, in fact, seems NSFW, including a barely clothed sauna session, plenty of shots of the pair in their underwear and footage of Deme just barely covered in bubbles in a bath.
Is it real, or is it a set-up?
Things get weird a minute in, when the visuals go wonky and suddenly LAROi seems out of sorts, bloated and rocking a bad goatee and mustache and floppy, unkempt blonde hair. What follows is an avalanche of kissing for the camera shots, a parade of exiting the limo footage and what looks like long-lens snaps of the happy couple in mid blow-out argument.
They keep performing for the camera as their visages get more and more Hollywood, with Deme suddenly developing wildly exaggerated features and lips as she and LAROi rapidly age. Even as they transform into middle-age social media junkies, the pair continue to chronicle every private moment, including their octogenarian wedding.
The dreamy FnZ-produced song is slated to appear on the Kid’s upcoming debut full-length album, The First Time; so far fans have already heard the single “Kids Are Growing Up” and “Love Again.”
Check out the “I Guess It’s Love?” video below.
Aly & AJ sidled up to the bar on Wednesday (Feb. 15) to unveil their new single “After Hours” and its accompanying music video.
On the track, the sister act channels equal parts Wilson Phillips and ’70s Americana as they take shots at a moody dive bar with fellow Disney Channel alum Aimee Carrero and belt out, “You’ve had far worse days/ So pour a drink, I’ll do the same/ After hours, when the city’s in bed/ After hours, that’s when I’m out of my head/ I’m a live wire, it’s when I’m at my best/ After hours, after hours.”
The night owl anthem will appear on the duo’s upcoming fifth studio album With Love From, which will also include the previously released title track and follow-up single “Baby Lay Your Head Down.” The full studio effort — their second independent full-length after 2021’s A Touch of the Beat… — is set to arrive in March.
Throughout 2022, the pair behind “Potential Breakup Song” also dropped re-recorded versions of Into the Rush fan favorite “Chemicals React” and Insomniatic single “Like Whoa.” They also ended the year performing their harmonic cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” with tourmate Ben Platt for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
In support of their forthcoming LP, Aly & AJ plan to embark on a headlining U.S. tour this spring with stops at venues like Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway, New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom, The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and more.
Watch the music video for Aly & AJ’s “After Hours” below.
After KEY opened up to Billboard about the film and family references that made Gasoline his most personal and empowering album yet, the K-pop star returns with its deluxe version, Killer, that showcases another side of the SHINee member.
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The title track single “Killer” sees KEY throwing it back to the ’80s with a workout-ready, synth-pop production soundtracking the guilt and self-conviction he needs to justify a harsh breakup. The accompanying video keeps somewhat in line with the throwback sound with KEY embracing similar elements to classic sci-fi action flicks like Tron and Blade Runner for cinematic scenes of the star riding through a city on a futuristic motorcycle. Meanwhile, the dance numbers in the visual feel classically KEY as he powers through interpretive dance moves to tell his story.
KEY also showed how the vintage inspirations come to life in Killer‘s album packaging, sharing on Instagram the video game and VHS–esque graphics that will instantly strike nostalgia in any ’80s or ’90s kid.
Alongside “Killer,” KEY’s repackaged record includes two other new songs including anthemic thumper “Heartless” and “Easy,” produced by KEY’s past collaborators LDN Noise who have been behind tracks like “Guilty Pleasure,” and SHINee singles “View” and “Married to the Music.”
Watch “Killer” below:
Depeche Mode unveiled their new single “Ghosts Again” on Thursday (Feb. 9) along with the track’s accompanying music video and new album Memento Mori‘s release date.
In the stark visual directed by Anton Corbijn, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore wield matching walking sticks topped with chrome-plated skulls before sitting down on an urban rooftop to face off in a game of chess.
“Wasted feelings, broken meanings/ Time is fleeting, see what it brings/ Hellos, goodbyes, a thousand midnights/ Lost in sleepless lullabies/ Heaven’s dreaming/ Thoughtless thoughts, my friends,” Gahan sings before his bandmate swoops in to deliver the final lyric of the chorus: “We know we’ll be ghosts again.”
“To me, ‘Ghosts Again’ just captures this perfect balance of melancholy and joy,” Gahan said in a statement. Added Gore, “It’s not often that we record a song that I just don’t get sick of listening to – I’m excited to be able to share it.”
The reflective, mid-tempo jam precedes the duo’s upcoming 15th studio album, Memento Mori, which is set to be released March 24 via Columbia Records. The LP will be the band’s first full-length since 2017’s Spirit, as well as the first since the passing of keyboardist and co-founder Andy Fletcher in May 2022.
The rollout for “Ghosts Again” was fraught with controversy among Depeche Mode’s fanbase. It all started with a countdown clock on the band’s social media accounts and website, seemingly pointing to the track’s release last Friday (Feb. 3), but instead was revealed that eager listeners would have to wait nearly another full week for the song’s grand unveiling.
Watch the stark music video for Depeche Mode’s “Ghosts Again” below.
The music video for “Smack That,” Akon‘s hit 2006 single with Eminem, danced its way into the Billion Views Club on YouTube, the video platform shared on Wednesday (Feb. 8).
The visual features a cameo from Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts and revolves around Akon getting a 24-hour hall pass from prison in order to help the police run an undercover sting operation in a gentleman’s club frequented by Eminem.
Of course, the whole plot is set to Akon’s irresistible earworm of a track, which finds the Senegalese-American star crooning, “I feel you creepin’, I can see it from my shadow/ Wanna jump up in my Lamborghini Gallardo/ Maybe go to my place and just kick it like TaeBo/ And possibly bend you over, look back and watch me/ Smack that, all on the floor/ Smack that, give me some more/ Smack that, till you get sore/ Smack that, oh!”
As the lead single off Akon’s sophomore album Konvicted, “Smack That” reached as high as No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, a career high at the time for the singer that was soon surpassed by his dual No. 1 hits “I Wanna Love You” featuring Snoop Dogg and “Don’t Matter.” Its video is the star’s second to achieve the major viewership feat on YouTube after his 2013 collab with David Guetta and Ne-Yo, “Play Hard.”
More recently, Akon mounted a comeback with his TikTok-fueled 2022 EP TT Freak. He also spoke out in December in defense of Nick Cannon having 12 kids with six different women.
Revisit the music video for Akon and Eminem’s “Smack That” below.
Growing up in south Florida, the closest Christian Breslauer got to Hollywood was a nearby beach named after it. The cinephile looked up to renowned film director David Fincher, who also helmed music videos for Madonna and Billy Idol early in his career. After high school, he started directing clips for local artists. He moved to California in 2016 with sights set on working with London Alley Entertainment, a full-service production company behind award-winning videos for artists including Kendrick Lamar (“Alright”) and Logic (“1-800-273-8255”). Breslauer jokingly recalls that he reached out to founder/executive producer Luga Podesta dozens of times before first working with the company on a 2019 Cîroc commercial. However, London Alley didn’t start representing him until the following year, after Podesta saw the video for Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” which earned an MTV Video Music Award nomination for best hip-hop video. “Our job as a company is seeing a director’s career long term instead of just per project,” says Podesta. “We strategize about who are the artists they want to work with and who manages those artists.”
Since then, Breslauer has become a go-to creator of visuals that are equally eye-popping and purposeful, working with superstars including The Weeknd, Doja Cat, John Legend and Lil Nas X (The latter’s “Industry Baby” clip with Jack Harlow won three VMAs). At the beginning of 2023, Breslauer directed the video for SZA’s “Kill Bill,” which has over 20 million views — and most recently, he helmed the ultimate Black girl superhero visual for Lizzo’s Special title track. “We helped [Christian] form the relationships with Lizzo and SZA,” says Podesta, also noting that the team “did four or five videos with SALXCO management and then finally got [him] to work with The Weeknd.” Adds Breslauer: “We try to build little Marvel universes for every artist I work with. That’s why artists like to come back and keep working with me.”
Tyga x Doja Cat, “Freaky Deaky”
Christian Breslauer and Doja Cat on the set of the “Freaky Deaky” music video.
Virisa Yong
After Tyga texted Breslauer about shooting a “futuristic” video for “Freaky Deaky,” a Doja Cat collaboration from his forthcoming album, Breslauer imagined a sexy cat-and-mouse game, with Doja capturing Tyga in various traps during a late-night rendezvous. The lyrics helped inspire some of them, including “Black Barbie, perfect and you gnarly,” which reminded Breslauer of a scene from Joe Dante’s 1998 film Small Soldiers when action figures punch out of their plastic boxes. “I put a lot of intention in breaking down the song,” says Breslauer. He often leans on artists to bring their own flair during shoots, noting that Doja Cat’s chastity belt lock featuring a phallic keyhole was an addition by her stylist Brett Alan Nelson.
Lizzo, “About Damn Time”
Lizzo and Christian Breslauer on the set of the “About Damn Time” music video.
Micayla Catanzariti
Last year, Lizzo’s team asked Breslauer to direct three videos for her Grammy-nominated album Special. But once the newly minted record of the year “About Damn Time” went viral and subsequently reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, that visual took priority. The two set out to make something uplifting, with Breslauer running with Lizzo’s idea to open in a support group setting. The visual won video for good at the 2022 VMAs, with Lizzo dubbing Breslauer “Tittylauer” during her acceptance speech. “We have so many funny moments. She brings such a bubbly energy where you just can’t help but love her,” he said, calling the recent “Special” video his favorite one from her album.
SZA, “Kill Bill”
SZA and Christian Breslauer on the set of the “Kill Bill” music video.
Micayla Catanzariti
For SZA’s latest video, Breslauer wanted to incorporate the singer’s idea of shibari rope bondage during the outro — a second sequence soundtracked by fellow SOS track “Seek & Destroy” — while still largely referencing Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films. “It seemed too on-the-nose to have an Uma [Thurman] cameo, but Vivica [A. Fox] was right to me,” says Breslauer of one of its driving scenes. “She’s got the look, she’s got the swagger.” He adds that they wrapped that shot around 5 a.m. as part of a 19-hour-long shoot that happened just days before Christmas. The video came out two weeks later — which Podesta says is “definitely the fastest video we’ve done in a while.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Feb. 4, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Lizzo dropped the music video for her latest single “Special” on Wednesday (Feb. 1) and unveiled her superhero alter ego in the process.
In the clip, Lizzo portrays a beleaguered and put-upon waitress who just so happens to moonlight as a caped crusader keeping little girls and victims of bullying and robbery safe. “In case nobody told you today, you’re special/ In case nobody made you believe, you’re special/ Well, I will always love you the same/ You’re special/ I’m so glad that you’re still with us/ Broken but damn, you’re still perfect,” she preaches after saving an elementary schooler from being hit by a car while also tending to the shaken-up driver.
Later in the Christian Breslauer-directed visual, the singer is labeled a “women-ace” as crowds of angry protesters wave handmade signs declaring “Public Enemy” and “Hope Over ‘Heroes,’” but turns the public narrative on its head when she saves the day by rescuing a baby from a burning building.
As the title track off Lizzo’s fourth studio album Special, the uplifting anthem follows No. 1 hit “About Damn Time” and its follow-up “2 Be Loved (Am I Ready).”
The lead single is currently nominated for three awards — record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance — at the 2023 Grammys, while the album as a whole is in the running for both album of the year and best pop vocal album. (Earlier today the singer notched three nominations at the upcoming 2023 Kids Choice Awards as well.)
Watch Lizzo flex her humanity-saving superpowers in the “Special” music video below.