Seeing is Believing: My Top 10 Videos of 2008

While 2008 is coming to an end, it's only right that I post my favorite music videos of the year. At a time where music video's are repetitive and cliched, the artistic and original videos deserve recognition. Hit up the full story to peep my 10 favorite videos of the year and more! There's more top ten lists to come!

10. U-N-I - Beautiful Day

There's nothing like watching a video filmed in area's you're familiar with. U-N-I cruises through Inglewood (my current stomping grounds), with an ill slow motion effect making it the first entry on my favorite videos of 2008. Very nice track by the way.

9. Young Jeezy - Crazy World

The best way to summarize this video is chaotic. The song title and music video theme compliment each other fairly well. Jeezy shows his interpretation of how crazy the world is going to become if we dont fix economic issues and unfair laws. "Crazy World" is Jeezy's third video off of his semi-political album The Recession.

8. Nas - Ya'll My Niggas

Nas drops a powerful video for one of my favorite tracks off his Untitled album. Nas doesn't appear in the video but instead it features a young kid rapping the lyrics to the track. As I said in the tenth entry of my countdown, it's always a good look seeing places you're familiar with in music videos. A majority of the video was shot on Crenshaw blvd. out here in Los Angeles, which is where I grew up. Nas also added commentary from hip hop's rival, Bill O'Reilly, followed up with a special message from Esco.

7. T-Pain feat. Lil Wayne - Can't Believe It

T-Pain linked up with 2008's hardest working artist, Lil Wayne for his first single off Thr33 Ringz. To brand Thr33 Ringz as a circus-themed album, Pain applied an amusement park concept to "Can't Believe It". Filled with clowns, coasters, and dope effects, T-Pain provides visuals for the lyrics in the song and album theme. "Can't Believe It" isn't only a clean video, it also makes T-Pain one of the most recognizable artists today with his signature top hat that appeared in many of this years videos.

6. Erykah Badu - Honey

Erykah Badu gives her take on classic album covers from Illmatic, to Paid In Full, to De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising. She also does her imitation of Andre 3000's memorable one-man band video, "Hey Ya". The clever renditions backed up by 9th Wonder's smooth production makes "Honey" one of the most fun videos of the year.

5. Common - Universal Mind Control

Hype Williams does it again with his Common collab for "Universal Mind Control". "UMC"'s robotic, electronic sound makes it obvious that the video would match the style of the track. Common links up with a BBC Robot to deliver one of the most innovative videos of 2008.

4. Kanye West - Flashing Lights

Kanye's third single off Graduation was none other than "Flashing Lights" (one of my favorite tracks from the album), and the unexpected video raised eyebrows and generated a lot of hype over the net. While the video received mixed reviews, I thought it was simple and changed peoples interpretation of the song. Aside from giving the song a new meaning, it also put the busty Rita G on the map. Watching her strip down makes the video well worth an entry on this top 10 list.
There were two other versions of this video that were nice as well and supposedly all three videos are connected.

3. N.E.R.D. feat. Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, & Pusha T - Everyone Nose (Remix)

"Everyone Nose (Remix)" was instantly one of my favorite videos of all time. I'm a huge fan of Hype William's work and he continues to push the envelope in hip hop music videos. Who would've thought you can mix a 80's video game/space theme video with a song about doing lines? I'm not going to do much discussion with this one, I'll let the video do the talking. On a side note, Pharell's shades are strangely dope.

2. Gnarls Barkley - Going On

The number two spot goes to the innovative and eccentric Gnarls Barkley. Gnarls Barkley has a reputation for delivering standout videos, and they continue to be creative with the video for "Going On". Gnarls Barkley brought the song to life with Jamaicans celebrating their discovery of a new dimension, but in the end the main character doesn't want to be followed there.

1. Kanye West - Heartless

My number one pick goes to Heartless. For one, I dig animated videos, and I also feel the video's artistic appeal. Honestly I didn't like Heartless instantly, but the video raised my appreciation. Not to mention it's my Mom's favorite song and video. Originally the video was recorded and later drawn by 65 animators in Hong Kong. The video was also inspired by an flick called "American Pop". I would love to peep the live version of this joint!

Honorable Mentions:
Santogold - LES Artistes
Gnarls Barkley - Who's Going To Save My Soul
Missy Elliott - Ching-a-Ling
Busta Rhymes - Don't Touch Me
Q-Tip - Gettin' Up
Common & Pharrell - Announcement