Too much good stuff came out this month, so we had to set some parameters. This month's best music videos are restricted to those clips that dealt with one song and one song only—that meant saying goodbye to ASAP Mob's short film and Grimes' seven videos. Luckily, there was still plenty of material to choose from. From music's biggest stars (Solange, Kid Cudi, The Weeknd) to newcomers like Obongjayar, this month offered plenty in the way of great music videos. Here's the best of October.
Action Bronson - "Durag vs. Headband"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Tom Gould
At this point, Action Bronson is as much a TV personality as he is a musician. That's not a slight—few celebrities have had such a successful crossover, and Action's hosting duties on Viceland have always felt like an extension of his musical self, rather than a separate project.
Now, the reverse is also coming true. The Queens rapper debuted his "Durag vs. Headband" video in the midst of an episode of Fuck, That's Delicious, and it features the show's mainstays: Big Body Bes, The Alchemist, Meyhem Lauren, and Knxwledge all make appearances. So does a large white horse, with whom Big Body seems to have a very complicated relationship. Regardless, this is more proof that Action can command any video—just give him a green screen and a blunt.
Obongjayar - "Creeping"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Frank Lebon
Newcomer Obongjayar blew us away with "Creeping," his debut track. But it's the accompanying video that shows he's an artist with a clear aesthetic and excellent eye—the lo-fi production doesn't have much more than cityscapes and a spotlight at its disposal, but it creates a whole world of voyeurism. Obongjayar has character and charisma that leaps off the screen, and we can't wait to see what's next.
Danny Brown - "Pneumonia"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Simon Cahn
Danny Brown is in chains when he first appears in the “Pneumonia” video. They’re locked around the rapper's limbs and torso, yanking him around a deserted parking lot. The pain looks real, and provides an unsettling contrast to the VHS tapes of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush that are spliced into the scene.
This is one of the best tracks on Danny's excellent Atrocity Exhibition, thanks in no small part to how it interacts with the lyrical content: the video is purposefully scratchy and haphazard in its editing. A close listen to the lyrics reveals some of Danny’s most politically biting raps ever, and the visceral image of his crumpled, manacled body in the cement makes sure the message is delivered.
Tunji Ige - "Bring Yo Friends"
View this video on YouTube
Directors: Glassface, Marcus Hyde, Child Artt, Molly Rose, Manbaby
This is the most addictive song on Tunji Ige’s Missed Calls, and the accompanying video will be sure to keep it in rotation. True to its name, the “Bring Yo Friends” visuals have plenty of Tunji’s friends, including some recognizable faces—Jesse Rutherford, Danny Seth, Khalid, and many more make appearances as the Philly rapper stunts through cities, across bridges, and in an animated video.
The long list of directors was no accident. “The idea was to bring together different directors with different styles,” Glassface said, “and have them contribute their personal visions for the song toward an eclectic visual.”
Catch Tunji Ige at ComplexCon this weekend.
Boogie - "N*gga Needs"
View this video on YouTube
Directors: Gina Gammell, Riley Keough
The setting for Boogie's "N*gga Needs" video is an exhibition space—miniature Boogies stand elevated on pedestals as mostly-white patrons peer thoughtfully at his bleeding, battered body. It's inspired in large part by Ron Mueck's "Youth," but the added impact of Boogie's heavy raps take things to a new level. It's a simple concept, but if this doesn't make your skin crawl, watch it twice.
KOOL KEITH ft. MF DOOM - "SUPER HERO"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Kris Merc
Animation studio Aardman Nathan Love pulled out all the stops for "SUPER HERO," a kaleidoscopic roller coaster of imagery and colors as vivid as the raps themselves. “I wanted to capture something that felt like a visual pop travesty,” director Merc explained. “I wanted it to visually speak to the legacy of the artists, and Afrofuturism mixed with comic book concepts. I’m a fan of the unseen, and I was obsessed with the idea of using DOOM's mask and the iconography as a centralized point—as if time and space converged around these strange, sometimes magical tableaus and we were witnessing an ascension.”
D.R.A.M. - "Cash Machine"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Lacey Duke
D.R.A.M. just dropped his first studio album this month—Big Baby D.R.A.M. is full of the same joyful, spirited music we've come to know and love (though he takes some chances too—check out the Young Thug collaboration "Misunderstood") and “Cash Machine” might be the best of the bunch. In the song's video, D.R.A.M. rides around the neighborhood on a modified tricycle, shooting money out of his pink portable cash machine. D.R.A.M. drops off money to his mom, chugs some lemonade, and kisses babies while girls in bikinis dance in the grass. These days, there's no stopping D.R.A.M.
The Weeknd - "False Alarm"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Ilya Naishuller
The Weeknd is set to release his project Starboy in November. Along with a transformative haircut and wiping his Instagram clean, he prepped fans for this next chapter by dropping a cinematic visual for “False Alarm.” The entire video is shot in first-person shooter mode—you tag along on a high speed heist that ends in tragedy. After robbing a bank and taking a woman hostage, the criminal crew is picked off one by one during the ensuing chase. The escape is almost a success, until the van crashes.
Naishuller is the director behind last year's groundbreaking "Hardcore Henry," a similarly styled first-person film—this is his bread and butter, and he doesn't disappoint this time around.
Solange - "Don't Touch My Hair"
View this video on YouTube
Directors: Alan Ferguson, Solange Knowles
The iconic shot of Solange's swirling, beaded braids will stick with us for a long time. It's the perfect image for the video, and an encapsulation of her incredible A Seat At The Table album. But the singer's penchant for gorgeous, stylized images doesn't stop at the first shot—there's intricate dance choreography shot from a bird's-eye view, some all-white observatory outfits with the elusive Sampha, and, of course, hairstyles galore. 2016 Solange as proved herself to be a consummate artist in every sense of the word, and this video is more jaw-dropping evidence.
Kid Cudi - "Frequency"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Scott Mescudi
Between his war of words with Drake and an ongoing stay in rehab, Kid Cudi has had a busy month. When this kind of media circus is in full swing, It’s helpful to remember why we pay attention to these artists in the first place. Thankfully, Cudi gave us just such a reminder earlier this month with the video for “Frequency.” Directed by the man himself, the visuals are a crash course in mind-expansion. Cudi prowls an ominous forest coated in DayGlo paint, encountering nymphs and mushrooms behind red eyes. Weird, wonderful stuff.
Solange - "Cranes In The Sky"
View this video on YouTube
Director: Alan Ferguson and Solange Knowles
Solange's "Cranes In The Sky" video is appropriately luscious—the song itself is a soaring, orchestral cut that may just be the best song off A Seat At The Table, and for the visuals, the artist pulled out all the stops. Solange plays the sculpture in many of the video's set pieces—perched atop a gnarled tree in a dusty landscape, or lying motionless on white tiles amidst palm trees. As the lyrics suggest, Solange is on the move in this video, but the array and breadth of locations can't distract from the reason we're watching: the camera loves Solange, and that magnetism is on full display whether she's coated in gold body paint or buried beneath a pillowy pink coat.
