20 Must-See Music Videos That Really Got Us Talking In 2024

A selection of 2024's most talked-about music videosAt a time when A-list artists like Beyoncé and Chappell Roan have scored chart hits in 2024 without even releasing a single music video, conversations are ongoing about just how relevant the artform is in the current music scene.But there’s no denying that for other artists (like women of the hour Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter, and breakthrough stars like Jade Thirlwall and Rachel Chinouriri), they’ve only added to their huge success this past year and boosted them further on their way to pop glory.With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 20 music videos in the past year that have really got us talking...20. Addison Rae – AquamarineDirected by Sean Price WilliamsIf you’d told us this time a year ago that TikTok star Addison Rae would be among the top-tier pop girls we’d be looking out for 2025, we’re not sure we’d quite have believed it, but her game-changing single Diet Pepsi really set her on a new trajectory over the summer.Follow-up Aquamarine proved even further that Addison is in her artiste era, as shown in its accompanying music video, which reads as an homage to everyone from Stanley Kubrick to Sean Baker – while also delivering on the choreo that introduced the world to the social-media-star-turned-pop-singer in the first place.19. Doechii and JT – Alter EgoDirected by Omar JonesDoechii brought all of the attitude and charisma displayed on her JT collaboration Alter Ego to life in the song’s music video, in which the Florida-born rapper pays an unforgettable visit to a swamp.“If you’ve never been to the swamp, you should visit – it’s better than a resort, better than a spa, better than a city, and you can do whatever the fuck you want, there’s no laws,” she explains in the video’s spoken-word intro, before proving – in more ways than one – why she’s absolutely not one to be messed with.18. Mette – BetDirected by C PrinzWe’ve been championing Mette for years now, so it was wonderful to see her career reaching new heights in 2024, which included the releases of banger after banger, multiple festival performances and even a support slot on the year’s biggest tour.Her biggest achievement of the past year, though, has to be the cinematic music video for her single Bet, showcasing everything that makes her such a star to look out for – big ambitions, amazing talent and a winking sense of humour to boot.17. A$AP Rocky – Tailor SwifDirected by Vania Heymann and Gal MuggiaSometimes it really is enough for someone to be confident enough to say simply, “look what I can do”.A$AP Rocky’s Tailor Swif video is crammed full of unpredictable and chaotic visual effects (which, in an era when AI has become as prominent as it is now, is nothing to be sniffed at), meaning every time you watch it, there are about 10 new things to spot. That Rocky himself never gets lost in the mix is only a testament to his showmanship. 16. Ariana Grande – Yes, And?Directed by Christian BreslauerA pre-WickedAriana Grande had plenty to get off her chest when she kicked off her Eternal Sunshine era, as evidenced by the slightly heavy-handed intro sequence, where a team of journalists pick apart the Grammy winner’s personal life, artistic credentials and, naturally, the length of her ponytail.More sure of herself than ever, though, she shut up her critics both real and imaginary in the latter half of the video, throwing it back to Paula Abdul’s Cold Hearted clip (itself a tribute to Bob Fosse’s Oscar-winning All That Jazz) and getting even her most vocal detractors stripping off and dancing along with her by the end of it all.15. Charli XCX and Billie Eilish – GuessDirected by Aidan ZamiriBy the time Charli XCX and Billie Eilish teamed up for their remix of Guess, Brat summer was already in full effect – and you can see right from the British star’s first appearance in this video that she’s feeling on top of the world.Charli’s section of Guess – in which she sums up the Brat ethos with a sweaty dance party – would still be effective enough on its own, but it’s when Billie crashes through the wall of a house in a forklift truck in her own inimitably breezy fashion, all while underwear rains from the sky around her – that the clip becomes one of the year’s stand-outs.14. Childish Gambino and Young Nudy – Little Foot Big FootDirected by Hiro MuraiNo one delivers a sinisterly loaded grin quite like Childish Gambino.Six years on from his smash hit This Is America, Donald Glover reunited with director Hiro Murai for another video that sees him playing the leader of a Doo Wop band struggling to win over a group of punters.True to form, the heavily-choreographed and chilling video masks a serious message about society and even art itself.Oh, and yes, that’s Quinta Brunson chatting to him at the beginning.13. Charli XCX – Von DutchDirected by TORSOTo some, it might have felt like the Brat era came from nowhere, but anyone who’s been paying attention will know that Charli meant business right from the word go. Charli kicked off her breakthrough era with the taunting racket that is Von Dutch, accompanied by a video that begins with her behaving – naturally – like a bit of a brat in an airport, before things are cranked up about 10 notches, and before you know it, she’s cavorting on the wing of a plane (which probably sums up her 2024 better than anything). 12. Raye – GenesisDirected by Otis Dominique and RayeFresh from her clean sweep at the Brit Awards earlier in the year, Raye made it clear that she had every intention of keeping the momentum going with Genesis, her most ambitious offering to date.Not only does the seven-minute mini-opera see her whizzing through genres at rapid pace, in keeping with her experimental debut album My 21st Century Blues, its music video is somehow even more unpredictable, keeping us guessing as she takes us on a whistle-stop tour of increasingly surreal imagery before crash-landing with us back to reality for the final sequence.11. Megan Thee Stallion and Yuki Chiba – MamushiDirected by Kevin “Onda” LeyvaA thread of snake-like imagery runs through Megan Thee Stallion’s 2024 album Megan, which took her artistry to yet more new heights.This culminates in the elaborate video for her single Mamushi, which pairs the serpentine symbolism from her previous clips with her love of Japanese iconography. Mamushi sees Megan playing a woman who proves to be a match for a group of gangsters who she lures to their demise in a bathhouse, while making references to key movies and actors from Japanese cinema.10. Victoria Monét – AlrightDirected by Dave MeyersThere’s just no mistaking Dave Meyers at his best, is there?Sometimes, if you dare to venture over to the darkest depths of Stan Twitter (or “Stan X” as some might now refer to it), you’ll find a group of devotees arguing over which mid dancer is the least mid of them all.And it’s only when you watch what artists like Victoria Monét are capable of delivering in videos like Alright that you realise how futile these conversations actually are (and, indeed, what true star quality actually looks like).9. Sabrina Carpenter – Please Please PleaseDirected by Bardia ZeinaliConsidering she’d been grafting for years when the lightning-in-a-bottle moment of Espresso’s success came over the summer, you’d be forgiven for thinking Sabrina Carpenter might have been sweating when it came to how she’d top her breakthrough hit.Fortunately, she already had a plan up her sleeve, not just in the surefire hit that was Short N’ Sweet’s second single Please Please Please, but also its accompanying video, which paired her up with bad boy of the moment Barry Keoghan (who just happened to be her real life boyfriend at the time), who was riding his own wave off success at the time thanks to his movie Saltburn.While the rumour mill would have us believe that Sabrina and Barry ended 2024 by calling it quits, at least we’ll always Please Please Please, in which they play a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde with a twist.8. Rachel Chinouriri – Never Need MeDirected by Jake ErlandAnd speaking of celebrity cameos...There’s plenty to love about Rachel Chinouriri’s video for Never Need Me, in which she and her BFF put girl power to the test by teaming up to get their own back on a fuck boy.Rachel’s friend being played by Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (a cameo which apparently came about thanks to some good old-fashioned DM-sliding) was just the icing on the birthday cake (before it was chucked across her ex’s face, that is).7. Charli XCX – 360Directed by Aidan ZamiriNever one to shy away from a cheeky cameo or two (or, indeed, 20!), Charli XCX’s 360 music video is chock full of A-listers to keep your eyes peeled for as she demonstrates exactly how best to live your best Brat summer life.But let’s face it, no one pulls it off as effortlessly as Chloë Sevigny, in all her strutting, cigarette-tossing glory in 360′s final moments.All that time wasted in 2024 discussing exactly what defines “Brat” when this ridiculous four-minute clip already holds all the answers. A shame.6. Kendrick Lamar – Not Like UsDirected by Dave Free and Kendrick LamarKendrick Lamar even bothering to shoot a video at all for Not Like Us is a testament to how seriously he takes his art (or, perhaps, just how deep his feud with Drake actually runs).The fact that Not Like Us is as triumphant, elaborate and packed full of subtle references and nods as it is just makes you want to go right back to the beginning and rewatch it all over again as soon as he wraps his staring match with that caged owl.5. Ariana Grande – We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)Directed by Christian BreslauerOn her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine, Ariana Grande devotes a lot of time to the end of her marriage to ex-husband Dalton Gomez, using the similarly-named Jim Carrey film to help her express how she feels about it all now, particularly in this video. Considering how complicated, nuanced and messy the film Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind actually is, it doesn’t exactly scream out to be condensed into a four-minute abridged version.And yet, We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) really manages it, allowing us to see both sides of a doomed love story that we can’t help shed a tear over every time we watch it (the fact she’s paired up with American Horror Story and Pose alum Evan Peters definitely helps bring the story to life, too). 4. Sabrina Carpenter – TasteDirected by Dave MeyersAlready two number ones down by the time she released her breakthrough album Short N’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter pulled out the big guns for single number three. And the machete. And the butcher knife. And Jenna Ortega.Seriously, we’d never have believed a year ago that Sabrina Carpenter had this kind of video in her – riffing on everything from the mega-violence of Quentin Tarantino to the camp fun of Death Becomes Her – but seeing her grow into this kind of artist has been one of pop’s biggest joys of 2024.3. FKA Twigs – EusexuaDirected by Jordan HemingwayEusexua is the kind of video FKA Twigs really excels at – beginning with one set-up before taking you in a completely unexpected direction.Twigs kicked off her new era in the most deliberately drab way possible, playing a tired office worker in a washed-out work setting, before things take a sudden heated turn, complete with concise, sexualised choreography, and jump cuts to herself and her “team” suddenly losing their clothes.Seven minutes later and, Twigs being Twigs, you’re in a completely different world, making a jump that few artists would be able to pull off as well as her.2. Lady Gaga – DiseaseDirected by Tanu MuinoLady Gaga finally answered the age old question “what would happen if Samara from The Ring grew up and moved to Wisteria Lane?” in 2024.Seriously, though – released just in time for Halloween, Gaga indulged her most creative and downright weird side with the first single from her long-awaited seventh album (due for release next year), leaning into the darker side of her Chromatica era with one of her most twisted videos to date.1. Jade – Angel Of My DreamsDirected by Aube PerrieFor her first ever solo single, former Little Mix singer Jade took a massive swing, and made it clear from her first step out of the gate that she’s an artist to be reckoned with.After taking the reins for herself for the first time in her 12-year pop career, Jade had some big points to make about her previous decade in the spotlight and the music industry at large, cramming in barbed jibes at her former label bosses and execs alongside wider commentary about the safeguarding of artists, as well as making it clear she’s done her homework on the pop greats who’ve came before her.To have done all that while retaining a sense of humour, a truly fresh and exciting perspective and a string of iconic looks – all we can say is roll on the rest of the album in 2025.READ MORE:7 Subtle Details You Might Have Missed In Jade's Incredible Angel Of My Dreams Music Video14 Albums From 2024 To Listen To Before The End Of The Year28 Most Hilarious Celebrity Videos From 2024 That We're Still Howling At Now