Tailor Swif or Taylor Swift, Best Music Videos of 2024

Let's introduce some new releases and music videos from three male rappers and two female synth-pop artists, which either challenge rivals or playfully mock themselves.

The 67th Annual Grammy Awards will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025. The ceremony will broadcast on CBS and be streaming on Paramount+. As we anticipate this upcoming event, let's take a retrospective glance at the Grammy nominees for Best Music Video in 2024.

Regarding music videos as a medium for promoting and marketing musicians’ works, and their evolution from MTV to streaming platforms, I wrote an article last year while recommending Grammy-nominated music videos, titled From The Beatles to Barbie: Best Music Videos of 2023. At the time, there were still works like The Beatles' digitally restored final track, I’m Only Sleeping, and even some country music. However, it’s evident from this year’s nomination list that the Grammys now prefer younger artists, with electronic pop and hip-hop taking center stage. These musical styles, accompanied with flashy videos, indeed align better with Gen Z's preference for fast-paced consumption.

"Tailor Swif" – ASAP Rocky, Super Smash Kyiv

As the title suggests, this hip-hop track is fulled with sexual innuendos and playful teases about Taylor Swift, the biggest pop icon of the moment; for example, it's sprinkled with unabashed lyrics like “I’m too swift, don’t tell Taylor 'bout this shit” throughout. Of course, ASAP Rocky, Rihanna’s long-time partner and a prominent figure in East Coast psychedelic rap, is no stranger to fame himself.

This song first surfaced live at the Portugal edition of the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival in July 2022, when it was titled “Wetty”. By the following July, at the Miami edition, it was renamed “Wetty (Taylor Swift),” sparking widespread discussion on social media. Finally, in August 2024, it was officially titled “Tailor Swif” and included in the rapper’s fourth studio album.

Israeli director Vania Heymann, renowned for crafting music videos for icons like Bob Dylan, Coldplay, and Dua Lipa, was invited by Rocky to direct the video for "Tailor Swif." Spanning just over three minutes, the video is packed with an endless array of surreal, mind-bending scenes changing at a rapid pace. Dolphins emerge from manholes, helicopters carry flying bulls, rabbits bathe in sinks—these grayscale, lo-fi yet imaginative visuals were all shot in freezing conditions in Kyiv in December 2021, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Interestingly, the video’s symbolism has nothing to do with current affairs or Taylor Swift herself. Perhaps, the true “Tailor Swif” implied by the title is none other than the director, the nimble craftsman stitching together all these eclectic scenes.

"360" – Charli XCX, The Influencers’ Last Supper

Alert! Influencers are about to disappear! They gather at a restaurant with one pressing mission: to ensure their continued survival by identifying and creating the next trending internet girl. British electronic pop star Charli XCX enters the scene and points toward a waitress on the far side of the long table. With their seasoned expertise, the influencers devise a plan based on the principle of being "known yet unknowable," molding the waitress into a social media idol.

Accompanied by autotuned vocals, the TikTok-style camera follows the influencers from hospitals to gyms, from billboards to car crash sites, showcasing their dramatic poses and desperate attempts to capture attention. By the end of the song, the waitress has mastered the art of controlling facial expression: with a subtle smirk and a signature “slightly angry” look often seen in Numéro and other high-fashion magazines. The "It Girls" avengers successfully secures their survival.

Directed by Aidan Zamiri, this satirical music video is both chilling and absurd. However, its reach and viewership pales compared to another remix of “360.” After Kamala Harris announced her presidential candidacy, a line from one of her speeches, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” went viral as a meme and was edited into various music clips. One college student paired the chorus of “360,” featuring the line “I’m so Julia,” with Harris’s “coconut tree” line, creating a bizarre yet wildly popular internet sensation.

"Houdini" – Eminem, The Clumsy Batman

The Best Music Video nominations also include contributions from hip-hop’s OG. At 52, Eminem invites fellow rap legends 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Royce da 5′9″, and Dr. Dre to make cameo appearances in his new song, “Houdini.” With the refrain “Guess who’s back” playing repeatedly at the opening, Eminem answers a phone call and clicks on a video, where he sees a younger version of himself—Slim Shady from 2002—stepping through a circular portal into the present.

The 2002 version of him, the “Rap Boy” from The Eminem Show, dons a Batman costume, clumsily scaling walls and hopping into the Batmobile to chase Slim Shady through a Gotham-like cityscape.

The song’s title, “Houdini,” references the famous early 20th-century magician, escape artist and stunt performer, who tragically passed away at the age of 52 on October 24, 1926 in Detroit. The city, as all his fans know, is Eminem’s hometown, which came to fame for its “8 Mile” landmark. Coincidentally, in October 2024, Eminem turned 52 himself. Beyond the titular homage, the lyrics also feature gossip and scandals about his guest stars, with each legend playfully engaging in publicity stunts.

Notably, Eminem, who once faced criticism for homophobic lyrics, now reshape his middle-aged perception with a sharp blend of humor and irony: “My transgender cat’s Siamese, Identifies as black, but acts Chinese.”

"Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar, A Diss to Drake

Roaming the dimly lit, morgue-like hallways of the Compton courthouse, Kendrick Lamar is delivering verses from an unreleased song before knocking on a door and giving the password, “I see dead people.” At the opening of his new track “Not Like Us,” the West Coast rap icon references the famous line from the movie The Sixth Sense. However, don’t mistake this lyrical genius for indulging in his cinematic tastes.

“Not Like Us” is a battle anthem—a diss track aimed squarely at Canadian rap superstar Drake. The feud between these two titans of opposing rap styles dates back to 2013, brewing for over a decade before culminating in a full-blown rap war in 2024. This isn’t an on-stage battle; instead, it’s a series of back-and-forth diss tracks. Drake accused Lamar of abusing romantic partners, who, as Drake claims, cheat on Lamar with his own creative collaborators, while Lamar fired back with allegations of Drake running a sex trafficking ring out of his Toronto mansion.

In “Not Like Us,” Lamar escalates the feud, accusing Drake of inappropriate conduct with minors and exploiting Atlanta’s Black artists for street cred and financial gain. Whether fueled by genuine animosity or a mutual promotional strategy, the track—co-directed by Lamar —quickly became Billboard’s “Most Anticipated Video of the Year” and arguably cemented Lamar’s victory in this rap feud.

The music video is rife with cryptic symbolism and visual metaphors, likely understandable only to fans closely following the U.S.-Canada hip-hop war. However, one thing is clear: Lamar rallies a movement from his home base in Compton, the heart of West Coast rap. In the climactic scenes, a crowd chants, “Are we locked in? Then step this way,” as they storm the courthouse steps, echoing the song’s lyrics.

"Fortnight" – Taylor Swift, A Sci-Fi Romance

If there’s a song that mocks and fantasizes about Taylor Swift, like “Tailor Swif,” it’s only fitting for Swift herself to enter the arena with her self-penned, self-directed new track, “Fortnight.” Otherwise, what better way to set the stage for an even livelier Grammy showdown? Co-written with Post Malone, the song narrates the story of two former lovers trapped in unhappy marriages who rekindle their romance and embark on a modern-day elopement to Florida.

For this ‘80s-inspired synth-pop ballad, Swift crafted a sci-fi romance film to match the song’s narrative. Filmed in black-and-white by Rodrigo Prieto, the cinematographer known for his work with Martin Scorsese and Alejandro González Iñárritu, the video begins with Swift restrained in a psychiatric ward. She escapes to a stark white room where she and her lover, played by Malone, type out their new story together. Their love story is tragically cut short when they’re caught during their escape and she’s returned to the hospital bed.

The video takes a darker turn as two mad scientists, portrayed in brief but memorable cameos by Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, begin conducting experiments on her, while Malone’s character is left watching from an agonizingly close yet unreachable distance.

This departure from her usual country-infused style paints Swift as a modern-day Madonna, seamlessly blending retro and futuristic aesthetics to create a soundscape and visual experience that captivates both listeners and viewers.