BEST VIDEOS OF 2019

Before/after effects. Living in a metropolis. Masks festival. 10-year-old rapper. World War I. Silence… Enjoy the best music videos we’ve discovered last year!

Also check out:

• Best Albums of 2019 – with 80 countries and over 400 albums
• 99 songs from 2019 – Spotify playlist across countries, styles & languages
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Angèle – “Oui ou Non” (Belgium)

Having released her debut single “La loi de Murphy” as recently as October 2017, Angèle has quickly gone through the roof. The 24 year old singer from Brussels sprinted a marathon and has already become one of Belgium’s most respected artists ever.

Not only Angèle’s songs are first-rate, her videos are tremendous too. Make sure you check the clip for “Oui ou non” if you already liked the ones for “Tout oublier” (with her brother Roméo Elvis, who you can know from this post) and “Balance ton quoi” (anti-sexist, turn on the YouTube subtitles if you don’t speak French).

The video that Brice VDH made for “Oui ou non” is an unexpected “before” and “after” that puts advertising films into perspective with a large dose of humour. First we get to see the traditional good news images and all the miracles that the products concerned can perform. Then the devil in Angèle appears and the smiling faces make way for pouting lips. (Brett Summers)

Emicida – “Silêncio” (Brazil)

This year, the São Paulo-based rapper Emicida released his third solo album, called “AmarElo” (yellow, in Portuguese, also making pun of the translations of the words “love” and “link”). As a influential artist, and considering the hard times lived in Brazil in both political and social matters, everybody was expecting him to record an “agressive” album, badmouthing the government and stuff like that. But what we saw in the majority of the album was the power of having patience and hope for a better world.

As a form to introduce “AmarElo” and its concept, Emicida released a special track called “Silêncio” (silence, in portuguese). The agonizing yet powerful video presents the value of the silence in a society where everyone wants to talk about everything. The scenes show people reflecting, thinking, breathing… It’s an incredible material that talks loud without saying anything. It shows that the pauses have as many importance as the speechs, songs and everything “noisy” in our lives.

The same album contains the incredible music video for its main track, with Pabllo Vittar and Majur. It’s all such a study about empathy and love, and its importance to build a better world with no injustice or hate. (Pedro Henrique Pinheiro)

Blind Butcher – “Liebe Leben” (Switzerland)

It is not only about the song. But of course, the guitars, the melodies, the rhythm, everything fits together nicely here.

“Liebe Leben” catches you from the beginning and drops you into a parallel dimension where the absurdity of suburban life drifts further into a surreal dimension. Is it psychedelic art or satire in pastel colours?

However: It’s a hymn to love and against the daily fears played by the rock’n’roll duo Blind Butcher from Lucerne. A band equally full of talent, madness and ideas. (Michael Bohli)

Buscabulla – “Vámono” (Puerto Rico)

“Vámono” is the first single off Buscabulla’s highly anticipated full-length debut, out on Ribbon Music sometime next year. Its colorful video treatment was directly inspired by the Festival de las Máscaras (Masks Festival), a yearly celebration in the municipality of Hatillo, dating back to when the town was founded in 1823.

The song marked an important step for songwriters Raquel Berríos and Luis Alfredo Del Valle, it being the first written by the couple after moving back to Puerto Rico from New York City in 2018. “Vámono” (meaning “Let’s go!”) is a call to action for Puerto Ricans everywhere to work towards a better future for our country.

It reinforces Buscabulla’s modus operandi of crafting forward-thinking tapestries out of a rich cultural past. (Alfredo Richner)

Syny – “Nag Champa” (Poland)

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to witness the quality of primeshit.” The duo Syny is one of the most adventurous hip hop acts in Poland right now and the award-winning video for “Nag Champa” provides a case in point. The song comes from their sophomore album “Sen,” which was released in 2018 securing one of the top spots on our best of list.

On the face of it, its lyrics tell a story about two blokes who acquire a fog machine so dangerous that it can “blow the planet up.” However, with Syny there is always a meta-level, and their comment that “Nag Champa” is about “crossing to the other side” might give you a hint about it.

In any case, even if you don’t understand Polish you will certainly enjoy the stunning cinematography and mind-boggling atmosphere of the video. (Artur Szarecki)

Irene Dresel – “Victoire” (France)

Since her first videos, like the beautiful one made by Flokim Lucas for “Lutka“, Irène Drésel has always had a strong graphic aesthetic. The visuals for her recent single “Victoire” are no exception. Directed by Gilles Degivry, the neon-colored shots beautifully expand Irène’s flashy and disturbing world.

Surrounded by the floral scenography the techno artist is already known for, the surrealist main character – a Parisian taxi driver – take her passengers on a hypnotic and hallucinatory ride. Spellbound by a strange rose and music’s haunting rhythms, they can’t help but fall in a never-ending dance.

Don’t be surprised if you begin to do the same… (Gil Colinmarie)

Bir Şeyler Eksik – “Kafada Deli Sorular” (Turkey)

“Kafada Deli Sorular” is the first official video of Bir Şeyler Eksik, who released their self-titled debut album in 2019. But don’t think about them as a brand new band. Bir Şeyler Eksik is a project of some of the greatest jazz musicians of the Turkish scene, including Çağıl Kaya (v), Alper Yılmaz (b), Volkan Öktem (d), Tamer Temel (s), and Serhan Erkol (s).

In “Kafada Deli Sorular”, lyrics and music belong to Çağıl Kaya, while arrangement was made by Tamer Temel. And in the video, we see a choreography designed and performed by professional dancers. It’s about hardships of life in Istanbul – all the rivalry, people turning into racers who beat each other to survive. There are some invisible obstacles as well – punches and kicks – created by life itself.

This great video was created by Ramin Matin and Tayman Tekin, and the dancers are Didem Kırış, Salih Usta, Gülnara Golovina, Hilal Eroğlu, Ayşen Mede, and Sedat Can Güvenç. I promise you will be satisfied both with the music and the video. (Emir Aksoy)

Pom Poko – “Leg Day” (Norway)

Last year, Norwegian band Pom Poko made a buzz with their critically acclaimed debut album “Birthday”. In a time of laid-back monotone minimalism Pom Poko is best described by one of the song titles: “Crazy Energy Night”!

Their latest single “Leg Day” is no exception. For the video, the band teamed up with performance artists De Naive, who appeared as choreographers and dancers.

Combined with the costumes by Torbjørn Kolbeinsen and weird camera work of Christopher Helberg the video is a refreshing and playful explosion. (Edvard Granum Dillner)

Gully Boy Rana – “Bangla Rap Song” (Bangladesh)

10-year-old Rana Mridha is a Gully Boy, Dhaka’s Gully Boy. “Gully” means “a narrow lane” in many of the Indo-Aryan South Asian languages including Hindi, Bangla and a few more which is common throughout South Asia.

The gully rap culture phenomenon has matured a lot in Mumbai, India. While Dhaka has always had a rap and hip hop community, they were not representing the actual everyday life. Discovered at the Dhaka University area by a student of Arabic Language and Literature, Mahbub Hasan Tabib – who happened to be an enthusiast for writing hip hop lyrics – the young Rana, a school dropout, used to sell flowers at the Shahbagh corner of the university campus. He made about 500 taka a day ($6).

It was then when he made an impression on people by memorizing songs he watched on television. Tabib’s personal interest in everyday life combined with Rana’s real-life story created a sensation overnight and made him the youngest star in Bangladesh and every song Rana released since became viral content for rap music crossing 10 mln views. (Khan Mohammad Faisal)

BEA1991 – “My Own Heaven” (Netherlands)

BEA1991 teamed up with director Jona Honer for the sublime music video for My Own Heaven, the lead single of her great record “Brand New Adult”, which happens to be among beehype’s favourite records of 2019.

For the occasion, Bea and Jona bought tickets to shoot their video at one of those ginormous over-the-top vacation cruises. The result is a bizarre yet affecting video that sees BEA1991 wandering through the brightly colored spaces of the crowded ship. It somehow pairs perfectly with the cold synths and murmuring vocals of the song.

Robyn has declared herself fan already, so better make sure you get on board as well, pun intended. (Jort Mokum)

Laurence Castera – “Jouer le jeu” (Canada)

War trenches are a hazardous place. In a rudimentary conflict that looks a lot like WWI, a deserter decides to flee. It’s winter. He’s ill-equipped. He crosses the frozen wilderness, fighting against the elements, and goes full circle. An end has a start.

The power of suggestion is used in a beautiful way by director Cassandre Émanuel, whose videos are always inspired as much as they are inspiring.

The scenery is breathtaking, Francis Goulet’s performance is flawless, and you can feel his isolation in every breath. Love is war. (P.-A. Buisson)

СТАСІК – “Ніж” (Ukraine)

Stasik (ukr. – Стасiк) is an alter-ego of Anastasiya Shevchenko. If you watch her video and consider it to be overemotional, bizarre and even creepy, there’s a reason for that.

Stasik used to be a theatre actress. But after an armed conflict with Russia, she went to the Eastern part of Ukraine to anti-terrorist operation zone to protect the border. So what do you do when you return home after that? Play pretend as if nothing happened and live a happy life?

For Anastasiya music became the best way to recover, spread her thoughts and emotions on important topics. Yep, she’s not glamorous and smiley cutie, but her visuals one of the opportunities for Stasik to be heard. (Dartsya Tarkovska)

Camila Moreno – “Quememos el reino” (Chile)

“Quememos el reino” (“Burn the kingdom”) is Camila Moreno’s recent video that relates to the current social outbreak in Chile. The song will be included on a political album she is working on, which is based on the material Camila presented during the last commemoration of the Women’s Day on March 8.

The single is a feminist song, also a reflection on belonging to the land and paganism, and on the other hand on the fact that politics, philosophy and love are totally intertwined. As for the sound, it is a mixture of many things, some that remain in the rock code with the Radiohead aesthetic, but it also incorporates a lot of pop.

The images of “Quememos el reino” are inspired by street fighting, violence, an element present in what has been happeninig in Chile since October. (Marcelo Millavil M.)

Canigou – “Tape” (Sweden)

It can only be desribed as a piece of art from the visual maker Hideki Inaba and the sound maker-duo Canigou. They are close to us on beehype as we have put them on display before, but then the song was about love.

With “Tape”, they zoom out from ties between husband and wife and put the lights on the whole origin and continuation of life. “All living things are connected. Not only our species are special” is the message and the visuals aproves that.

I don’t think we should describe this masterpiece further, just watch it and figure out your own place in a system of eternity. Anyhow, you can just enjoy another great atmosperic tune from Stockholm-based duo Emma and Richard Lindström. (Fabian Forslund)

Isyana Sarasvati – “Sikap Duniawi” (Indonesia)

“Open your eyes, the sky is beautiful / Let the past pass / Stick to your new dream”, sings Isyana Sarasvati in this spectacular single off her third album, “LEXICON”. A graduate of the Royal College of Music in London, she’s been known for her pop abilities, but now she adds orchestral grandiosity.

In her lyrics, Isyana Sarasvati wanted to encourage those who are “on the brink” to step up and follow their dreams. But the video actually takes it a step further – you should also inspire others to live their lives! Which actually is also what the whole album “LEXICON” is about.

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