{"id":956748,"date":"2025-12-08T15:39:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=956748"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:39:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:39:00","slug":"the-10-best-music-videos-of-2025-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=956748","title":{"rendered":"The 10 best music videos of 2025, ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>It\u2019s been a great year for music, and music videos have been there (almost) all of the way. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/sabrina-carpenter\">Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>\u2019s pithy, tongue-in-cheek \u201cManchild\u201d and \u201cTears\u201d, to breakout newcomer EsDeeKid\u2019s dark, Gotham-like \u201cCentury\u201d, music videos have deepened and enriched some of the biggest musical moments of 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They are, however, starting to seem like a dying art. In the age of social media, a full four-minute music video is basically long-form content, and they are rapidly getting fewer views than their short-form counterparts. Case in point: NLE the Great\u2019s (formerly known as NLE Choppa) controversial Tupac-themed NBA Youngboy diss track \u201cKO\u201d, of which clips of the video have generated almost 20 times as many views on TikTok and Instagram as on the full cut available on YouTube.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But the medium is still important to celebrate. Moments like Madonna\u2019s \u201cLike A Prayer\u201d or, more recently, Childish Gambino\u2019s \u201cThis Is America\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/39966\/1\/childish-gambino-this-is-america-meaning-jim-crow-dancing-liberty\">sparked discussion<\/a> in all the best ways, and it\u2019s hard to imagine the same sort of conversations happening around a 30-second vertical snippet. Fortunately, there have still been some bangers this year \u2013 and some have even sparked discussions of their own. Below, we<\/span><span> rank our ten favourite music videos of 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>10. JIANBO, \u201cFOR THE HONOUR FEAT. NIX NORTHWEST\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"06WYi6pCMx0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"422\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/06WYi6pCMx0\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"750\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Previously working as a sound tech in the film industry before diving into music full-time, Camberwell rapper Jianbo has long been known for his incredible music videos. Early bangers like \u201cChinatown Trouble\u201d saw <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/68253\/1\/jianbo-in-uk-rap-so-he-made-his-own-south-london-everything-for-the-family\"><span>what he calls<\/span><\/a><span> \u201csuped-up fucking Subarus\u201d speeding down the Limehouse Link tunnel, but \u201cFor The Honour feat. Nix Northwest\u201d took things to a whole new dimension. The video recreates an East Asian dystopian city with the stylings of a <\/span><em><span>Grand Theft Auto 4<\/span><\/em><span> cutscene, complete with neon-lit back alleys, weed grow rooms in skyscrapers and a mecha debt collector. It\u2019s a strong illustration of the tales from the underbelly that Jianbo delivers in his lyrics \u2013 or, as one commenter describes it more succinctly, a \u201cdrill noir\u201d. <em>(SPM)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>9. ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER, \u201cMEASURING RUINS\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"fzC-RV1h0gc\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cYoshi Sodeoka is one of the all-time great video artists.\u201d This is what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/oneohtrix-point-never\">Oneohtrix Point Never<\/a>, AKA Daniel Lopatin, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69026\/1\/oneohtrix-point-never-daniel-loptin-interview-searching-soul-among-ai-slop\"><span>told Dazed<\/span><\/a><span> back in November. A bold claim! As previous collaborators on <\/span><em><span>Magic Oneohtrix Point Never <\/span><\/em><span>(2020), the pair reunited this year via the music video for \u201cMeasuring Ruins\u201d, a highlight track from Lopatin\u2019s recently released <\/span><em><span>Tranquilizer<\/span><\/em><span>. GOAT conversations aside, the visuals were a perfect fit. Tapping into both Lopatin\u2019s and Sodeoka\u2019s fascination with simulated realities, they follow a mechanical drone in a complex dance with a flock of birds. Then it\u2019s a swarm of dragonflies, then butterflies; nature begins to glitch out of existence, and Sodeoka, with a musician\u2019s eye, tailors each microsecond to the track\u2019s skittering percussion and gliding synths. As Lopatin himself says: \u201cYoshi\u2019s like an antenna. He\u2019s tuned in.\u201d <em>(TW)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>8. CHARLI XCX, \u201cPARTY 4 U\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"agu22bqGHto\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>This one\u2019s a bit of an underdog story. Originally released as part of her fourth album <\/span><em><span>How I\u2019m Feeling Now<\/span><\/em><span>, \u201cparty 4 u\u201d went <\/span><span>viral in February of this year after a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/discover\/party-4-u\"><span>TikTok trend<\/span><\/a><span> involving fans singing the accelerated second verse pushed the track back into charts around the world. It was after this that a video for \u201cparty 4 u\u201d was released in May, featuring Charli stumbling through a barren industrial wasteland in America and setting fire to her Coachella billboard. The latter scene appeared to establish a connection between the two periods in her career, with \u201cparty 4 u\u201d\u2019s central message of a night unfulfilled being recontextualised in her post-<\/span><em><span>Brat <\/span><\/em><span>era, in which the album cover began to gradually decay on Spotify and Charli posted about being \u201cinterested in the tension of staying too long\u201d. \u201cParty 4 u\u201d is great because, five years after its initial release, it created a moment<\/span><span> that could have only happened at that point in her career. <em>(SPM)\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>7. LORDE, \u201cMAN OF THE YEAR\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"ynrSkSYirB0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Back in April, a few days before joining Charli xcx on stage at Coachella, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lorde\">Lorde<\/a> posted a TikTok stomping along the streets of New York while teasing her new single, \u201cWhat Was That\u201d. Her outfit was pretty simple \u2013 baggy denim jeans, a loose white shirt and black boots \u2013 though there was a strange detail on her left foot. A strip of luminous silver duct tape was stuck to the top of her boot, which we shrugged off, until it made a reappearance during her Coachella performance. Then came the Met Gala look: a custom Thom Browne two-piece in silver duchess satin, a direct reference to her next music video, \u201cMan Of The Year\u201d, which dropped two weeks later. Since she first began teasing her <\/span><em><span>Virgin <\/span><\/em><span>era, fans speculated that Lorde might be using this new album as a vehicle to explore her gender identity. Famously, Chappell Roan asked her directly: \u201cAre you nonbinary now?\u201d to which Lorde responded, \u201cI\u2019m a woman except for the days when I\u2019m a man.\u201d With \u201cMan Of The Year\u201d, Lorde bravely took this one step further, not only with the song\u2019s lyrics, but by taping her chest on camera. After writhing around in dirt, she returns to a fetal position, reborn with a new confidence and understanding of her own identity.<em> (IVD)\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>6. SABRINA CARPENTER, \u201cTEARS\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"V9vuCByb6js\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/sabrina-carpenter\">Sabrina Carpenter<\/a> is no stranger to referencing camp horror classics. From <\/span><em><span>Psycho<\/span><\/em><span> to <\/span><em><span>Addams Family Values,<\/span><\/em><em><span>Death Becomes Her<\/span><\/em><span> to <\/span><em><span>The<\/span><\/em><em><span>Texas Chainsaw Massacre<\/span><\/em><span>, the pocket-sized star has become a scream queen of modern music videos, and the visual for \u201cTears\u201d was no different. Released on the same night as her latest album, <\/span><em><span>Man\u2019s Best Friend<\/span><\/em><span>, Carpenter surprised the world with Colman Domingo in drag and an ode to <\/span><em><span>The Rocky Horror Picture Show. <\/span><\/em><span>With the help of her new-found drag mother, Carpenter is given a makeover and the ability to dance (see the unmissable dance break). She also kills a man with her stiletto heel, keeping up the pattern of sacrificing a man in each of her videos. Interestingly, it\u2019s directed by Canadian filmmaker Bardia Zeinali, who appears again later in this list\u2026 <em>(IVD)\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>5. DAVE, \u201cCHAPTER 16 FEAT. KANO\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"-q66T2dNml0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span><em><span>Let\u2019s make a track about this dinner and this stamp you gave me \/ And base it on the Book of Samuel, call it \u2018Chapter 16\u2019 if you&#8217;re down<\/span><\/em><span>?\u201d arrives the kicker at the end of Dave\u2019s \u201cChapter 16\u201d, revealing that the preceding track \u2013 which features back-to-back bars from UK legends Dave and Kano \u2013 was essentially a recreation of a conversation the pair had had over dinner. The track is rich with poignant, heartfelt lyrics \u2013 from Kano urging him and Simbi (Little Simz) to \u201c<em>go grab the accolades they wouldn\u2019t give me,<\/em>\u201d to a playful line about Dave not dating, but \u2018Duolingo-ing\u2019. The video captures this intergenerational conversation with elegance and restraint. It\u2019s simple, focusing not on high-octane moments, but on quiet, telling details: the exclusively white diners surrounding them; the waiter placing the bill in front of the older Kano, only for him to pass it across to Dave. The duo previously faced off as enemies in <em>Top Boy<\/em>, but here, their chemistry is even stronger as collaborators and friends.<\/span><span>\u00a0<em>(SPM)\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>4. DOJA CAT, \u201cGORGEOUS\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"nBJRaflBDBg\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>How many supermodels can you fit into one music video? Doja Cat found out in September, when she released the video to \u201cGorgeous\u201d starring Paloma Elsesser, Alex Consani, Amelia Gray, Mona Tougaard, Imaan Hammam, Anok Yai, Irina Shayk, Alek Wek, Karen Elson, Ugbad Abdi, Sora Choi, Ida Heiner and Yseult. It also features an appearance from Doja Cat\u2019s mother, Deborah Sawyer. Could this be 2025\u2019s equivalent to George Michael\u2019s \u201cFreedom! &#8217;90\u201d video (famously starring Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, and Tatjana Patitz)? Though nothing will ever truly live up to the original, Doja Cat certainly gives it her best shot, filmed like an 80s makeup advert and directed by Bardia Zeinali (who we mentioned earlier as the man behind Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s \u201cTears\u201d). <em>(IVD)\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>3. JIM LEGXACY, \u201c\u201806 WAYNE ROONEY\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"RhjZgIk9oCs\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>With early grime samples and lyrical nods to UK rap greats, there\u2019s a strong sense of nostalgia running through Jim Legxacy\u2019s music \u2013 and few directors are better matched to this vision than the UK\u2019s anonymous worldbuilder Lauzza. Together, they form a powerful pair in the video for \u201c\u201806 Wayne Rooney\u201d, which reimagines Jim as a character in FIFA 06, while kids trade Match Attax cards bearing his likeness outside a London corner shop. In true Lauzza style, the video is crammed with Easter Eggs, from a spoof Match of the Day segment co-hosted by grime-era icon Vuj, to a livestreamed FIFA Ultimate Team pack opening that ends with Jim drawing a card of himself (his highest attribute? Aura). Perhaps the greatest detail is how the video managed to breach reality itself, with the real \u201825 Wayne Rooney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DQwUlXijRKU\/?img_index=2\">commenting on a snippet of the video on Instagram<\/a>. Goal(s).<em> (SPM)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>2. DOECHII, \u201cDENIAL IS A RIVER\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"F0cdbR5ognY\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Towards the end of 2024, Doechii\u2019s career skyrocketed. A string of viral moments, including her Tiny Desk and Stephen Colbert performances, saw her shift from rising Tampa rapper to global superstar. Kicking off 2025, she kept the momentum going by releasing a music video to her chatty, musical theatre-esque single \u201cDenial Is a River\u201d, taken from her 2024 mixtape, <\/span><em><span>Alligator Bites Never Heal<\/span><\/em><span>. In everything she does, Doechii\u2019s bold ideas and their execution separate her from other artists, and this video was no exception. Inspired by classic 90s sitcoms <\/span><em><span>Family Matters<\/span><\/em><span> and <\/span><em><span>The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air<\/span><\/em><span>, it follows the song\u2019s narrative of catching her boyfriend with another man, before glowing up and going platinum. Like the song, the video is creative, comical and taps into a homely sense of nostalgia. It flawlessly transitions from gritty VHS video to cinematic storytelling, featuring a cast of familiar faces including Earl Sweatshirt, Teezo Touchdown, Baby Tate and DJ Miss Milan. In the YouTube comments, one user notes: \u201cSo bold of Doechii to release the best music video of 2025 on January 2nd\u201d, and we can\u2019t deny, it was a tough call. <em>(IVD)<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span>1. ADDISON RAE, \u201cHEADPHONES ON\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"XdFpzaM07i0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Most of our generation will remember being in the back of the car, plugging in our wired headphones (whether you were listening on an iPod shuffle, a Sony Walkman or an MP3 player), and dissociating as your dad put his foot on the gas and hurtled down the M5. Whatever weight we were carrying on our shoulders may seem as light as a feather compared to today\u2019s pressures, but still, when our 3G was too slow to scroll through Tumblr, we relied on music to transport us elsewhere. Addison Rae\u2019s \u201cHeadphones On\u201d captures this exact feeling: navigating life as a troubled adolescent, existing in an imaginary, otherworldly realm by way of distraction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The song itself is about Rae\u2019s own experience coping with her parents\u2019 divorce and relying on music to help shut out the real world. During that time, Bj\u00f6rk was one of the musicians she turned to, so naturally, Rae\u2019s personal escape would be Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s motherland, Iceland. At the beginning of the video, she\u2019s working behind the till at Iceland (the British supermarket chain), with the Icelandic flag painted on her fingernails. Cut to her dreamscape, and Iceland the supermarket becomes Iceland the country, complete with mountainous horizons, waterfalls and black sand beaches. Rae herself becomes a pink-haired nymph, riding a white horse bareback with a breathtaking, volcanic backdrop. By the end of the video, the camera zooms out to reveal the singer back in the supermarket car park, riding a white rocking horse instead of the real one. Directed by Mitch Ryan, the video acts as the perfect visualiser for the phrase \u201cheadphones in, world out\u201d, and sadly, in 2025, we had every reason to want to shut the real world out. Luckily, Addison Rae wasn\u2019t one of those reasons, though she did provide the soundtrack to our distraction. <em>(IVD)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69245\/1\/best-music-videos-of-2025-charli-xcx-doechii-jim-legxacy-addison-rae<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a great year for music, and music videos have been there (almost) all of the way. From Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s pithy, tongue-in-cheek \u201cManchild\u201d and \u201cTears\u201d, to breakout newcomer EsDeeKid\u2019s dark, Gotham-like \u201cCentury\u201d, music videos have deepened and enriched some of the biggest musical moments of 2025.\u00a0 They are, however, starting to seem like a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":956749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-956748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=956748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/956749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=956748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=956748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=956748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}