The Worst Rap Video Ever, and What Can be Done About It

It's official; rappers have completely run out of new ideas. They're not even trying anymore. Here is "This is the Life" by Rick Ross. The song discusses how awesome it is being a rapper and "not stoppin' the champagne from poppin'". The vocalists switch from rapping in front of a black door, to rapping while sitting on a couch with some girls, to rapping while sitting in a convertible with a girl. Then the video is interspersed with static shots of booze, weed, girls, motorbikes, cars, jewelry shaped to look like the guy's head, and Rick Ross literally burning money. Static shots! We don't even have the pleasure of watching said motorcycle fly down a highway. And of course the shots are static, because the whole thing is filmed on a soundstage, because the rappers don't actually own any of the things they are bragging about. And being a relatively new act, they probably had to borrow a few hundred grand from the record company so that this stuff could be in the video.

I'm not ragging on rap; I just like rap that tries to say something. For instance, Outkast, K'Naan, K-os, M.I.A., Elwood, N.E.R.D., Kanye West without the ego, even Nas isn't that bad. Also The Streets, whose a skinny white guy from England. He may not be a prototypical rapper, but at least he can craft lyrics that I find meaningful. I'm also ragging on meaningless videos. If you're gonna spend a few hundred thousand dollars on 5 minutes of airtime, you might as well craft something artistically valid. Not every video should be political, but I should be able to come away with something (instead of "that's five minutes I'll never get back").

Off the top of my head, some great videos (not songs; videos. That's another thing to add to my ramble: videos that win at the MTV or MuchMusic Video awards should be the ones that HAVE GOOD VIDEOS! Not because the song is popular. If Rick Ross goes #1, there's still no reason for his video to be nominated).
Coldplay: The Scientist
Radiohead & U.N.K.L.E.: Rabbit in your Headlights
Just Radiohead: Just
Bjork: It's Oh So Quiet
Weezer: Buddy Holly
Johnny Cash: Hurt, or God's Gonna Cut You Down
Also check out Stylus Magazine's Top 100 Videos of all Time.

And an impressive music video from Sarah McLachlan, who turned the genre on its head and helped out some people at the same time: World on Fire.