Rumors of MTV’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. In October, it was announced that many of MTV’s subchannels in Europe and South America would be discontinued at the end of 2025. But the social media telephone game quickly led to many believing that MTV as a whole, in the U.S. and everywhere else, was shutting down. It isn’t, but how much would it matter at this point? Music videos haven’t been a major part of the television landscape, on MTV or anywhere else, in decades, but the medium continues to thrive online, mainly on YouTube.
SPIN’s list of the best music videos of 2025 includes flashy, expensive clips from superstars like Chappell Roan and Drake as well as smaller productions that showcase up-and-comers like Devon Again and Ecca Vandal.
25. “Parachute,” Hayley Williams
Directed by Zachary Gray
The second verse of “Parachute” features a visceral vocal performance of some of the most vulnerable lyrics of Hayley Williams’s career. So it’s jarring and unexpected, and yet somehow perfect, when the Paramore frontwoman lip syncs those lines with a blank, emotionless expression in the minimalist video for the Grammy-nominated track from her third solo album Ego Death at the Bachelorette Party.
24. “Born Again,” Lisa featuring Doja Cat and Raye
Directed by Bardia Zeinali
The “Born Again” video brings together three young pop stars in their prime from around the world: Thailand, America, and England. Lisa of Blackpink, Doja Cat, and Raye play around with a lot of powerful historical imagery, dressing up like Cleopatra and Joan of Arc, but the haute couture and striking use of light and shadows are what make “Born Again” a great showcase for all three artists.
23. “Day One,” Bon Iver featuring Dijon and Flock of Dimes
Directed by Jos Diaz Contreras
“In 2025, Bon Iver announced his retirement, and the search began for his replacement,” the text at the beginning of the “Day One” video announces. What follows is an entertaining montage of singers of all ages auditioning to be the new Bon Iver, some of them wearing a ballcap and fake beard to mimic Justin Vernon’s signature look while lip syncing to “Day One.” Actors Cristin Milioti and Jacob Elordi and St. Vincent’s Annie Clark make cameos, and eventually the real Justin Vernon shows up, as do the song’s guest vocalists, Dijon and Jenn Wasner of Flock of Dimes.
22. “Sugar on My Tongue,” Tyler, the Creator
Directed by Tyler, the Creator
Tyler, the Creator has largely moved past the shock value of career-launching early videos like 2011’s “Yonkers,” where he famously appeared to eat a cockroach and then hang himself. Tyler still has a pretty dark sense of humor, though, and the video for the crossover hit from his 2025 surprise album Don’t Tap the Glass starts out innocuously enough before escalating quickly with bondage, blurred nudity, and an enormous prop tongue.
21. “I Will Dare,” The Replacements
Directed by Eric Kassel
A rising trend in the music industry is new videos for old songs. For instance, this year Rhino Records promoted a deluxe edition of the Replacements’ 1984 classic Let It Be with a newly produced music video for the album’s opening track. The “I Will Dare” clip is a slice of life in the CC Club, one of the iconic Minneapolis quartet’s old haunts, packed with references to Replacements song titles and other band trivia.
20. “Party 4 U,” Charli XCX
Directed by Mitch Ryan
Charli XCX was also spurred to shoot a video for an older song when her 2020 album cut “Party 4 U” went viral on TikTok this year and started charting internationally. On the 5th anniversary of the song’s original release, Charli released a “Party 4 U” video where she breaks down, then strips down, and destroys a billboard of her own face.
19. “This is the Killer Speaking,” The Last Dinner Party
Directed by Harv Frost
The Last Dinner Party and frequent collaborator Harv Frost love to pay homage to film history in the London band’s videos, mixing together different genres and references. And the video for “This is the Killer Speaking” is a hybrid of dark fantasy and spaghetti westerns, full of gunslingers as well as a centaur.
18. “Puni Police,” Shenseea
Directed by Jay Will
Jamaican dancehall star Shenseea’s profile rose in America this year with guest appearances on hits by Moliy and Mariah Carey. Shenseea’s best solo track of 2025, however, was “Puni Police,” a hilarious takedown of possessive lovers. The video takes the song’s premise literally, giving Shenseea’s jealous boyfriend a badge and a corkboard full of paranoid theories about who she might be cheating on him with.
17. “Revolving Door,” Tate McRae
Directed by Aerin Moreno
Tate McRae’s songs are usually either slow and emotive or seductive and danceable. “Revolving Door” splits the difference with a propulsive uptempo beat and a despondent lyric about a troubled relationship. With complex choreography as well as disorienting editing that reverses McRae’s movements, the “Revolving Door” video matches the song’s busy yet ominous sound, building to a tearful end with McRae powering through to begin the routine all over again.
16. “Striptease,” FKA Twigs
Directed by Jordan Hemingway
FKA Twigs was a dancer before she was a recording artist, and she consistently sets a high standard for creative and original choreography in her videos and live performances. The “Striptease” video, reminiscent of Jonathan Glazer’s classic clip for UNKLE’s “Rabbit in Your Headlights,” stars Twigs as a mysterious figure wandering into traffic in a busy tunnel, her body eventually contorted by CGI effects.
15. “2AM,” BigXThaPlug
Directed by KZA
Dallas rapper BigXthaPlug was one of hip-hop’s biggest breakthrough artists in 2025, and the “2AM” video offered a cinematic depiction of one of his most narrative-heavy songs.
14. “Mad,” Renee Rapp
Directed by Luke Orlando
Singer/actress Renee Rapp is best known as a scene stealer in the 2024 Mean Girls remake and HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls. And her screen presence and comic timing are usually on full display on her music videos as well, with Rapp mugging and flirting to brighten the mood of a pissed girlfriend in “Mad.”
13. “Luther,” Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA
Directed by Karena Evans
This year Kendrick Lamar and SZA co-headlined a stadium tour while their collaboration “Luther” topped the Hot 100 for 13 consecutive weeks. The video feels less like a pop culture event than a gently inviting mood piece, though, featuring longer excerpts of the Luther Vandross sample that gave the song its title.
12. “Second Sleep,” Magdalena Bay
Directed by Amalia Irons
This year the L.A. duo Magdalena Bay followed up their breakthrough 2024 album Imaginal Disk with a new single, “Second Sleep,” that pivoted from electronic experimentation to a groovy retro pop sound. The song’s video was also refreshingly old-fashioned, with singer Mica Tenenbaum walking through a surreal world full of colorful sets and costumes.
11. “No Joy,” The Beths
Directed by Frances Carter
“No Joy” is a fast, catchy song with devastatingly relatable lyrics about depression. The video doubles down on that cognitive dissonance, with the Beths frontwoman Elizabeth Stokes visibly bummed out while her bandmates all sing and play with maniacal grins on their faces.
10. “Nokia,” Drake
Directed by Theo Skudra
“Nokia,” a Drake solo track from his PartyNextDoor collaboration album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, was the big smash hit that the Canadian superstar needed this year to start moving on from losing his 2024 rap battle with Kendrick Lamar. Choreographer Tanisha Scott, who previously worked on Drake’s hugely viral “Hotline Bling” video, returned to help make “Nokia” a fun, goofy glow-in-the-dark spectacle full of synchronized dancers.
9. “Bloom Baby Bloom,” Wolf Alice
Directed by Colin Solal Cardo
After three guitar-heavy albums, the British quartet Wolf Alice reinvented its sound on 2025’s The Clearing with the help of producer Greg Kurstin. The piano-driven lead single “Bloom Baby Bloom” was a dramatic reboot, with the band making a leap into musical theater with the song’s Bob Fosse-inspired video.
8. “Cruising to Self Soothe,” Ecca Vandal
Directed by Ecca Vandal and Richie Buxton
Australia-based singer-songwriter Ecca Vandal has been making songs that fuse punk rock and hip-hop, and shooting eye-catching videos for them, for over a decade. “Cruising to Self Soothe,” with Vandal dancing and screaming her head off in an empty concrete pool, became her first video to get a million views on YouTube this year, a career-launching moment that recently led to her getting booked for the 2026 edition of Coachella.
7. “The Subway,” Chappell Roan
Directed by Amber Grace Johnson
Chappell Roan hadn’t released a music video in nearly two years when she debuted her clip for “The Subway,” and her first new video since becoming a major star retains her unique sense of humor. Roan’s curly mane of hair becomes larger than life, literally, in “The Subway,” as rats crawl through her enormous flowing wig, and Roan gets dragged down the street after her hair gets caught in a taxi door.
6. “Denial is a River,” Doechii
Directed by Carlos Acosta and James Mackel
Doechii’s “Denial is a River” video pays tribute to old sitcoms like “Family Matters,” with cameos from stars including Zack Fox and Earl Sweatshirt. But Doechii breaks the fourth wall as the camera pans around to show the studio audience as the video, and her lyrics, take a dark turn that subverts the sunny nostalgic aesthetic of the clip.
5. “Gnarly,” Katseye
Directed by Cody Critcheloe
AI became ubiquitous in the music industry this year, often controversially used to produce videos, album covers, and even songs. The international girl group Katseye’s “Gnarly” video drew criticism for its use of AI, and there are still a lot of ethical debates about AI in the arts that need to be had. But the bizarre visuals felt like a natural match for the noisy hyperpop track’s sound and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, and the human performances by the members of Katseye ultimately feel like the focal point of “Gnarly.”
4. “Cherry Cola,” Devon Again
Directed by Jooystin and Eliot Lee
In theory, we live in an age where an independent artist can use an iPhone to shoot a music video that’s as entertaining as anything from a well-financed major label artist. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it did happen in early December when Los Angeles alt-pop artist Devon Again released her latest video. Fireworks, pimples, and cans of soda all explode in the “Cherry Cola” video, a deliriously entertaining montage of sight gags, relatable problems, and sudden moments of beauty and profundity.
3. “Berghain,” Rosalia featuring Bjork and Yves Tumor
Directed by Nicolas Mendez
An entire symphony orchestra follows Rosalia around in the “Berghain” video, crammed into her apartment or walking down the street with her, providing a grand and dramatic soundtrack to every unremarkable moment in her life. The second half of the video pivots to some very different but equally striking imagery, as Rosalia’s home is suddenly filled with wild animals, including a small bird that performs Bjork’s part in the song.
2. “So Be It,” Clipse
Directed by Hannan Hussain
“So Be It” was released on YouTube and on social media before Clipse’s label was able to clear the song’s sample of Saudi Arabian composer Talal Maddah and put the track on streaming services. So for a few weeks, the best single from the Thornton brothers’ comeback album Let God Sort Em Out was only available as a video, a stylish black-and-white 35mm clip filmed at an opulent Long Island mansion. In the video’s most memorable sequence, three rotating Pusha T heads float in the air as he delivers the song’s snarling final verse dissing Travis Scott.
1. “Manchild,” Sabrina Carpenter
Directed by Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia
Structuring a music video as a trailer for a movie that doesn’t exist is a great way to pack a lot of quick, entertaining vignettes into a few minutes. And the video for Sabrina Carpenter’s latest chart-topper is perhaps the best fake trailer video since My Chemical Romance’s “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” a dizzying barrage of increasingly unhinged imagery as Carpenter moves from one immature love interest to the next. By the time Carpenter fires a shotgun across a pool table or rides down the interstate in a motorcycle sidecar made out of a grocery cart, you’re starting to imagine a movie where all these absurd moments fit together into an actual plot.
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