The Best Music Videos of the Month (April 2015)

Director: Ben Mor

Tinashe's video for "All Hands on Deck" came out four months after her debut album, but it was worth the wait. The video is one of Tinashe's best: it was shot in a shipping yard, which might not seem like the sexiest place for a video, but they pulled it off in a major way.

Created for the YouTube Music Awards commission, the "All Hands on Deck" video shows Tinashe and dancers in a "post-apocalyptic world," doing a dance that's become the video's signature. It reflects the energy of the video and danceability of the song perfectly.

Director: Jesse Kanda

Arca's "Sad Bitch" video resembles his videos for "Thievery" and "Xen" from his debut Xen album. This time, however, the curvy, computer generated dancing body grows sores and starts to give off red light particles.

It all happens in such a slow, smooth way that you almost forget how lowkey gross the image is (especially as the body grows more sores). When it comes to the union of Arca x Jesse Kanda, it's safe to expect a visceral aesthetic—it won't necessarily have a narrative, and it probably won't be fun to watch, but they'll make sure you remember it.

Directors: Sia and Daniel Askill

For the last of Maddie Ziegler's three Sia videos, the young actress continued her untraditional, arresting work with choreographer Ryan Heffington. Instead of an abandoned house ("Chandelier") or a giant cage ("Elastic Heart"), Maddie moves with only a black background behind her.

It proves to be all she needs, as Ziegler contorts her face and body as only she can. Though there was some controversy over Maddie's battles with Shia LaBeouf in "Elastic Heart," "Big Girls Cry" will ruffle less feathers. Instead, it comes off as Sia's homage to her muse. They've done some incredible work together, and Sia's 1000 Forms of Fear album is better for it.

Director: Ricky Saiz

OKAY KAYA's video for "Clenched Teeth" is simple yet stunning. For a song about "laying next to someone and drifting off into a lucid dream where they’re finally able to confess everything to you through clenched teeth," the video captures that dreamy, lonely feeling perfectly. We follow Kaya as she wanders through Tokyo's colorful Shibuya district, singing the melancholic song with strangers scattered around her.

We're already huge fans of OKAY KAYA (see Daily Discovery here), and this awesome video, which comes after the lovely "Damn, Gravity," seems like only the beginning for her.

Director: Director X

In "King Kunta," Kendrick Lamar takes an exuberant strut through his hometown of Compton. It's similar to his video for "i", where his own dancing becomes contagious enough that everyone ends up joining him.

Simply by letting Kendrick and his friends vamp in front of the camera, "King Kunta" captures the energy that seems to flow throughout Compton. Besides visiting the blocks and homes where he grew up, Kendrick also holds court atop the soon-to-be-shuttered Compton Swap Meet, where Kendrick had apparently seen Tupac when he was growing up. The video is also peppered with allusions to Dr. Dre's "Still D.R.E." video, another California classic.

Director: Grace LaDoja

People have been anticipating Skepta's "Shutdown" video for a while now, especially after he sampled Drake's "Jungle" line and got a co-sign from Drake.

In a video directed by Grace LaDoja, Skepta and his crew (guys and girls) vibe out to the song in between close-ups of their hair and clothing. It's as much an ode to a traditional grime video (most recently referenced by Kanye West on-stage at the BRITs) as it is a testament to London's enduring, ever-original youth culture and style.

Director: Jeremy Cole

The world became a lot more familiar with Young Fathers after they won Britain's prestigious Mercury Prize last year, but thankfully, all the attention hasn't distracted the band from their music.

Young Fathers have put out another album just five months after winning the prize, complete with a couple of fantastic videos. "Shame" stars actor Joshua Hubbard, bloodied and furious. The video opens as he sets out on an angry walk down the streets, which turns into a run before Hubbard explodes into a full-bodied dance. It's a pretty spot-on visual counterpart to the song's tense, manic unfolding.

YOUNG FATHERS: IF WE KEEP SAYING WE'RE A POP BAND, YOU'LL BELIEVE US

Directors: Simon Halsall & JB Babenhausen

Jamie xx specializes in intricate, impactful music. It's best listened to with your full attention, and his videos pack the same punch: simple, beautiful, and subtle.

Following the heartwarming video for "Sleep Sound," Jamie xx filmed "Loud Places" with his the xx bandmate, Romy. Together they skate around London, sharing one of their favorite pastimes.

As Jamie says, "It’s a part of our friendship not many people really know about, and it’s something I wanted to share." In addition to the newly released "Gosh" video, Jamie has also worked with Young Thug on his forthcoming debut album, In Colour. Here's hoping he continues the video winning streak over the next few months.

Director: A.G. Rojas

Run the Jewels used their video for "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F**k)" as an opportunity to weigh in on America's ongoing struggle against racially motivated police brutality.

They captioned the video with a long statement explaining why they chose to exhibit such a graphic scene of a black man and a white cop fighting:

"We had to exploit the lyrics and aggression and emotion of the track, and translate that into a film that would ignite a valuable and productive conversation about racially motivated violence in this country."

Killer Mike added that "this video represents the futile and exhausting existence of a purgatory-like law enforcement system. There is no neat solution at the end because there is no neat solution in the real world. However, there is an opportunity to dialogue and change the way communities are policed in this country."

Starring Keith Stanfield and Shea Whigham, the "Close Your Eyes" is as real as it gets: there seems to be no beginning, no end, and no motive behind the fight.

Director: Wolf Haley

Tyler, the Creator's self-directed videos never disappoint. For "Fucking Young," he goes the extra mile, painting a vivid, oversaturated picture of unrequited love. She loves him, and he can't deny that there's something there, but she's just too young.

Tyler watches from a movie theater as his love-object pops his balloons, shows up uninvited at his mom's place, and basically rips his life apart. The drama eventually becomes too much for Tyler, and he gets kicked out of the theater.

That's where the video's second act starts, a Mad Max-inspired outro that coincides with the Cherry Bomb opener, "Deathcamp." At six minutes and 29 seconds, "Fucking Young" is more cinema than video, absolutely the most entertaining and hilarious set of visuals that came out in the past month.