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[Lazarus]

The list
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/list/8466543/100-greatest-music-videos-of-the-21st-century

[Lazarus]

93. Aaliyah, "Rock the Boat" (dir. Hype Williams, 2001)

The video for Aaliyah?s sinuous ?Rock the Boat? might have easily gone down as just one of the many examples of the beloved singer?s preternatural cool and low-key sex appeal, featuring Aaliyah leading an all-female ensemble in understatedly sexy moves mirroring the song?s hypnotic, undulating melody. But it?s impossible to watch without feeling a deep pang of sadness: Directly after filming this video, Aaliyah and eight others were killed in a plane crash over the Bahamas. ?Rock the Boat? begins with an in memoriam of sorts, and as the video starts, Aaliyah walks on a deserted beach beneath a sky so beatifically sunlit, it could very well be heaven. The video ends with a gorgeous shot of her swimming alone, trailed by billowy silk, toward a surface that seems contiguous with the clouds. In between, we?re reminded of an artist who was an effortlessly entrancing dancer and singer, a happy young woman with so much ahead of her -- before she floats off to somewhere else. -- REBECCA MILZOFF

84. Alicia Keys, "You Don't Know My Name" (dir. Chris Robinson, 2003)

It's as vivid a straightforward rendering of song narrative as 21st-century music video has produced, with Alicia Keys and fictional love interest Mos Def acting out Keys' Songs in A Minor melodrama as a brilliant blur of fantasy and reality. Director Chris Robinson's sumptuous New York visuals make the theatrics pop with both pleasing familiarity and near-uncomfortable intimacy, lifting you into Keys' daydream -- right up to the crushing ending, when it turns out that Mos never will know just how different she looks outside of her work clothes. -- A.U.

[MelMel]

[Lazarus]

79. Madonna, "Hung Up" (dir. Johan Renck, 2006)

Faced with relationship trouble, a pop queen doesn?t cry it out -- she dances it out. Madonna?s ?80s-infused video for the ABBA-borrowing Confessions On A Dance Floor smash ?Hung Up? turns the star?s sweaty, solo aerobics workout into a therapy session where all you need to squelch anxiety is a pink leotard and a boombox. The visual only gets better as it expands to scenes resembling a Los Angeles street corner, a subway car, and a Chinese restaurant, where crowds of all ages, races, and ethnicities erupt into fiery dance battles of their own. Meant as a tribute to John Travolta?s ubiquitous dance roles in film, the whole thing ends (how else?) with Madonna breaking it down on an arcade Dance Dance Revolution machine -- not bad for a star who broke several bones in a horseback-riding accident just weeks before shooting. -- T.C.

75. Kendrick Lamar, "i" (dir. Alexandre Moors, 2014)

If this video had come out even two years later, the dance that Kendrick rolls out throughout the visual might have spawned enough challenge/meme copies to send it all the way to the top of the charts, rather than the mere No. 39 it topped out at on the Hot 100. As it stands, the video is a clever nod to both the song's influences -- sampled artist Ronald Isley is in on the party throughout, while George Clinton makes a nonchalant cameo reading a copy of his own autobiography outside a club -- and to the darker forces underlying the song's self-love ethos. -- DAN RYS

[Lazarus]

74. Dua Lipa, "New Rules" (dir. Henry Scholfield, 2017)

Some new new rules: 1. Launch a thousand Pinterest boards with a beachy pastel color scheme and an enviable hotel slumber party. 2. Take unlikely inspiration from the animal kingdom with head-bobbing choreography meant to evoke the fidgety movements of a pack of flamingos. (No, really!) 3. Embrace the storytelling power of repetition for a dance routine whose third-act twist still delights as much as it did the first time. Follow those steps, and you'll earn admission to YouTube?s billion-views club ? and maybe fast-track yourself to a level of international superstardom that half a dozen prior singles couldn?t snag. -- NOLAN FEENEY

71. Kylie Minogue, "Come Into My World" (dir. Michel Gondry, 2002)

No music video director works sleight-of-film better than Michel Gondry, the guy who turned a countryside train voyage into Chemical Brothers sheet music or a theatrical Bj?rk drama into a cinematic matryoshka doll. But his greatest cinematic achievement may remain Kylie Minogue's four-lap trek around the streets of Paris, with Kylie and her universe's neighbors somehow layering on top of themselves each time she passes Go. It's a marvel that remains magical 16 years later -- though one that might make you reticent to accept her titular invitation, since it seems like her World barely has room for one of you, let alone four. -- A.U.

[MelMel]

oh wait!

59. Robyn, "Call Your Girlfriend" (dir. Max Vitali, 2011)

In one continuous three-and-a-half minute shot, Robyn manages to hold your attention in the music video for "Call Your Girlfriend." The video simply shows Robyn dancing and singing in an empty soundstage, wearing a furry top and looking like her own heart has just been shattered, but it feels impossible to look away. The clip was often parodied and recreated after its release, most notably by former SNL cast member Taran Killam, in which he filmed a near-perfect recreation of the video in the show's writers room at 4:00 a.m. -- X.Z.

[BAPHOMET.]

  @ #1

[Freemala Harris]

wait godga

[FAMÈ]

Yes Ciara!

[Nine]

Billboard literally can't make a good list to save their lives.

Stick to the charts huns.

[GRAND ETERNAL SUPREME]

Hmm

Bad Romance is one of her best videos but it didn't really stand the test of time well

Like, Poker Face, Alejandro, and Judas shit on it at this point

I can't see it being number one

[Sovereign.]

Didn't realize Bryan Barber was at the hem of so many great visuals. Paul Hunter and Melina Matsoukas are two of my favs.

[fedswatchin]

Cmon Promise

[MelMel]

yeah this list is trash overall

[Sovereign.]

I love Diane Martel too. She knew how to capture simplicity.