Now that music videos are primarily watched online, artists find themselves freed from the constraints of the traditional three-minute short. The past year has seen the debut of the personalized, interactive music video and the return of minimovies that are much longer than the songs they accompany. The best example of this is Kanye West’s “Runaway,” a 35-min. film written and directed by Kanye, set not just to one song from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but to (almost) the entire album. The plot — Kanye falls in love with a supermodel phoenix and tries to assimilate her into the human world, only to learn that she can’t stay with him because, well, she’s a phoenix — is told through a series of visually stunning set pieces that in a more traditional world would probably serve as stand-alone videos for their accompanying songs. The scenes are connected by occasionally comedic interludes (in one scene, Kanye takes the phoenix to a dinner party and is asked by another guest, “Your girlfriend is very beautiful … do you know she’s a bird?”). In that sense, “Runaway” is a visual representation of Kanye West’s music career: often artistic and beautiful, but sometimes incredibly silly.
The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos
Thirty years ago, MTV began to beam a budding art form — the music video — into homes across the U.S. TIME takes a look back at the most memorable clips from three decades' worth of music television
Kanye West, ‘Runaway’ (2010)
Full List
1980s
- Talking Heads, ‘Once in a Lifetime’ (1980)
- Michael Jackson, ‘Thriller’ (1984)
- Godley and Creme, ‘Cry’ (1985)
- a-Ha, ‘Take On Me’ (1985)
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ (1985)
- Run-DMC, ‘Walk This Way’ (1986)
- Peter Gabriel, ‘Sledgehammer’ (1986)
- Madonna, ‘Express Yourself’ (1989)
1990s
- Sinéad O’Connor, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ (1990)
- Nirvana, ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ (1993)
- Nine Inch Nails, ‘Closer’ (1994)
- The Beastie Boys, ‘Sabotage’ (1994)
- Weezer, ‘Buddy Holly’ (1994)
- Jamiroquai, ‘Virtual Insanity’ (1997)
- Missy Elliott, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ (1997)
- Pulp, ‘This Is Hardcore’ (1998)
- Blur, ‘Coffee & TV’ (1999)
- Björk, ‘All Is Full of Love’ (1999)
- Chemical Brothers, ‘Let Forever Be’ (1999)
- Fatboy Slim, ‘Praise You’ (1999)
2000s
- D’Angelo, ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel)’ (2000)
- Fatboy Slim, ‘Weapon of Choice’ (2001)
- Johnny Cash, ‘Hurt’ (2003)
- The White Stripes, ‘The Hardest Button to Button’ (2005)
- OK Go, ‘Here It Goes Again’ (2006)
- Gnarls Barkley, ‘Going On’ (2008)
- Beyoncé, ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’ (2008)
- Lady Gaga, ‘Bad Romance’ (2009)
- Kanye West, ‘Runaway’ (2010)
- Arcade Fire, ‘We Used To Wait/The Wilderness Downtown’ (2010)
