Has Kanye West Ever Made a Good Music Video? We Investigate

Still from “Famous,” via Tidal

Perhaps you heard about Kanye West’s latest music video for The Life of Pablo single “Famous.” The clip is about as purportedly controversial as the song itself, with a coterie of naked celebs sle—you know what, it’s been out for nearly a week, and if you’re reading this right now you probably know what it is. A low-concept idea with an execution resembling Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers with less trash and more implied humping, the “Famous” video hints, dances around, and gestures towards an attempt to say things about fame, sex, and famous people having sex. It’s also kind of terrible.

“I hate the Kanye video so much,” a close friend texted me the morning after the video for “Famous” dropped. “Name a good Kanye video,” I replied; in return, she offered the video that Aziz Ansari and Eric Wareheim recently made for “Famous”—a video that, while good on its own merits, didn’t involve Kanye in any direct creative way. In the last week, I’ve asked a variety of friends and colleagues if Kanye West has, in the history of his career, ever made a good music video. The replies have been mixed: “Of course, shut up,” “I’m not looking to scrutinize Kanye in this fashion,” “Maybe a few but probably not,” and so on.

The question stands, though: Has Kanye West ever made a good music video? For someone who’s such an unstoppable creative force, it’s kind of shocking that, over a solo career that’s spanned 13 years and included some of the greatest albums made in any genre this century, he’s failed to deliver a truly iconic video, even as he has drastically shaped every other aesthetic corner of hip-hop. Everyone has Kanye videos they like, but it’s highly likely that no two people agree on which ones those are. In 2016, it’s as close as can be universally agreed upon that Kanye is some sort of genius—but there’s never been a solid consensus reached on the cream of his music video crop.

What follows is a video-by-video analysis of this question—excluding for the most part, non-legacy, unofficial, and unreleased videos (i.e. the clip for the remix of Late Registration’s “Drive Slow”). Oh, and—if you disagree with any of this, which you undoubtedly will, @ me, please.

“Through the Wire” (2003)

Pretty good! A lot of early Kanye lore unspooled here—if you watched it on MTV (lol) at the time, this was how you first got to know him, and if you watch it now, it’s a fascinating look back at the beginnings of one of the most brilliant creative minds of the last 30 years. The last few seconds, in which he seems to be stunned by his own come-up and then places a kiss on a Chaka Khan poster, are so beautifully and touchingly Kanye that I’m getting choked up just relaying what it feels like to watch it.
VERDICT: Good video.

“Slow Jamz” [ft. Twista and Jamie Foxx] (2004)

A pretty standard video for one of Kanye’s straight-up funniest songs—one, though, that’s elevated to “good” status by employing a visual representation of the “Got a lightskinned friend that look like Michael Jackson / Got a darkskinned friend that look like Michael Jackson,” punchline, which also stands as one of Kanye’s funniest punchlines to date.
VERDICT: Good video.

“Jesus Walks (Version 2)” (2004)

Some wild and perpetually timely imagery in the official, Chris Milk-directed clip for “Jesus Walks”—the whole video arguably builds to the image of the KKK-clad burning-cross-carrier. Definitely a provocative thing to show in a music video in Bush-era America! Remember this Rolling Stone cover? Iconic! This isn’t Kanye’s best video, and perhaps its overall aesthetic composure highlights the messy, flawed chaos that’s present in his most recent visual work—hindsight is 20/20, etc.
VERDICT: Pretty good video.

“All Falls Down” (2004)

Great video, and I’d argue that (extreme old man voice) they don’t make music videos like this anymore in general. Perfect concept executed perfectly, and it’s extremely easy to ignore that legend-in-the-game conservative troll Stacey Dash is the narrative focal point here. Kanye looks really young in the scene where he looks into the airport restroom mirror! Do you think he thought about including Stacey Dash in the “Famous” video? He might have!
VERDICT: Very good video video.

“The New Workout Plan (Long Version)” (2004)

Sometimes, Kanye is good at being funny; other times he’s not. This video lands pretty solely in the latter camp, although there’s some nostalgia-mining in seeing 12-years-aged footage of folks like John Legend and Tracee Ellis Ross. Of note: a shot of a “Baller Party” shrine of sorts, featuring cut-outs of Diddy, Jay-Z, Bill Gates, Damon Dash… and Donald Trump. (Related: if we make it through 2016 without having to hear Kanye give his opinions on Trump, this year might not be all trash).
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Diamonds From Sierra Leone” (2005)

One of Kanye’s most conscious videos for one of Kanye’s most conscious songs, this black-and-white clip starts in the diamond mines referenced in the song and expands into a mini-treatise charting the life of a diamond—kind of. Also, Kanye drives a Delorean with the doors up. Cool! The video is pretty boring, though, even if it’s well-intentioned.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Gold Digger” [ft. Jamie Foxx] (2005)

I mean, there’s more color here, literally, than the previous clip—but coupled with the song’s overall message, the pin-up visual approach scattered throughout this video comes across as particularly retrograde 11 years after the fact. At least Kanye and Jamie Foxx look like they’re having fun—but that’s not enough.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Heard ‘Em Say” [ft. Adam Levine] (2005)

Nothing much to see here—Kanye and Young Sugar Bomb himself vibing in black-and-white, aided by a very literal animated interpretation of selected lyrics from the lilting, lovely Late Registration opener.
VERDICT: Bad video—and weird that a video for a song from one of Kanye’s most overstuffed albums would come across as so anodyne and muted…

“Touch the Sky” [ft. Lupe Fiasco] (2006)

But the video for Late Registration single “Touch the Sky” certainly makes up for it—although I’m not sure it’s in a good way. The third and, to date, final Chris Milk-helmed Kanye video (previously: “Jesus Walks,” “All Falls Down”) requires Kanye to act—specifically, as a Evel Knievel-esque stuntman, with Pamela Anderson playing his significant other—and anyone who remembers Kanye’s Anchorman 2 cameo (or SNL 50 bit, for that matter) knows that Kanye isn’t very good at pretending to be anyone except Kanye. Still, a just-fine trifle of a clip made a little more interesting by the fact that the real Evel Knievel was enough of a douche to actually sue Kanye over his likeness being appropriated alongside the video’s “vulgar, sexual nature”. (In the end, they worked it out.)
VERDICT: Mediocre video.

“Can’t Tell Me Nothing” (2007)

As far as videos go, this is “Heard ‘Em Say Pt. 2,” essentially—a concept-less clip that just features Kanye doing his thing in the desert with some weird scarf shit that reminds me of the video for Madonna’s “Frozen.” Another instance where an alternate video made by comedians—specifically, Zach Galfinakis and alt-folk troubadour Bonnie “Prince” Billy (he does do comedy stuff sometimes)—is better.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Stronger” (2007)

This video is insane—lots of Tron stuff (remember: Kanye loves Tron!), Daft Punk cameos, the emergence of the infamous shutter shades, which we all owned at one point (don’t front)—but it’s little more than a loud, garish mess, just like the song.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Good Life” [ft. T-Pain] (2007)

Big win here for Ed Banger art director So-Me, whose colorful pop-art animations stud this joyous, fun, and stellar video for the titanic Graduation single. Quite possibly Kanye’s loosest and most fun video of his career, a work of art that isn’t necessarily weighed down by pontifications of what “art” is.
VERDICT: Perfect video.

“Flashing Lights” [ft. Dwele] (2008)

You could mark this video as the beginning of Kanye’s high-concept music video era—brutally simple in the literal sense, as an underwear-clad woman bludgeons him to death in the back of a car after blowing up another car. It’s cool-looking, but it’s about as empty as the trunk’s gonna be when the woman finishes cleaning ‘Ye’s guts out of it.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Homecoming” [ft. Chris Martin] (2008)

In which Kanye makes sure you never think that he’s not from Chicago for one second. A love letter to his hometown, this simple video is Kanye doing his thing amid city-specific clips—there’s even some fireworks, just like the ones he mentions over Lake Michigan. I love me some Coldplay, but if Chris Martin had showed up here I’d be tempted to brand it a bad video—he’d have killed the visual vibes here, no lie—but otherwise it’s nearly impossible to hate on something that is so obviously tied to Kanye’s personal experience.
VERDICT: Fine video.

“Champion” (2008)

Man, it is wild that this video, Kanye’s first in a string of fruitful collaborations with NABIL, isn’t available on VEVO. It’s a lot of fun! We’re talking Kanye in puppet form, with the puppet wearing the shutter shades and doing a damn foot race, too. Maybe one of the last times you get to see Kanye (in puppet form, anyway) having pure unbridled fun in a video.
VERDICT: Great video.

“Love Lockdown” (2008)

Remember when Kanye performed this on Ellen? Doesn’t it seem like Kanye’s been friends with Ellen for forever? Anyway: The visually ambitious “Love Lockdown” clip didn’t do much for me when it premiered, and it still kind of just sits there now, the same way ‘Ye does in the beginning of the video. The video of the first time Kanye performed the song on the 2008 VMAs is much more worth your time, in my opinion.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Heartless” (2008)

Not gonna lie: Kanye made some cool-ass-looking videos during the 808s and Heartbreak period, and this obviously Ralph Bakshi-indebted clip is no exception, a trippy cel-shaded experience stuffed with pop art and pop culture references released at the exact moment that Kanye himself became inextricably enmeshed in pop culture’s DNA.
VERDICT: Great video.

“Welcome to Heartbreak” (2009)

Kanye’s second collab with NABIL is perhaps his most fruitful, a screen-melting fantasia that is maybe the closest anyone’s ever come to recreating the visuals you get when you take a very potent dose of mushrooms. There was a bit of “Who Wore It Better?” controversy when Chairlift dropped the visually similar “Evident Utensil” video around the same time, but c’mon—you think I’m about to give the gold here to fucking Chairlift? I like that band, but not that much.
VERDICT: Perfect video.

“Amazing” (2009)

Pretty sweet that Kanye and Jeezy got to take an island vacation—but how much do you enjoy it when someone shows you a bunch of vacation photos you never asked to see? Yeah, me neither.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Paranoid” [ft. Mr. Hudson] (2009)

Almost as strong of a Kanye-NABIL collab as the “Welcome to Heartbreak” video, this clip draws all its stylish, cinematic power from Rihanna’s wordless star turn. She whips work posing and flailing in a ice-cold fashion that completely distracts you from the sorta-wack Sin City aesthetic laid atop of it.
VERDICT: Good video.

“Two Words” (2009)

This is a weird one: the video for this hard-hitting College Dropout cut was shot around the time of the album (at least, as Freeway seems to suggest in this Complex interview) but didn’t see official release for nearly five years. Stylistically, it’s pretty cool—grit-filtered footage that corresponds to the song’s lyrics with performance footage from everyone involved—but it’s ultimately inessential.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Coldest Winter” (2010)

Terrible video. TERRIBLE! This honestly looks like one of the shitty-looking video sequences that played in the beginning of the first Resident Evil—you know what I’m talking about, and if you don’t, don’t bother finding out. The first noticeable whiff from the Kanye-NABIL partnership.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Power” (2010)

As Kanye once said, “It’s not a video… It’s a moving painting!” Whatever—I don’t get it anyway.
VERDICT: Bad moving painting.

“Monster” [ft. Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver, Rick Ross, and Jay Z] (2010)

Extremely ironic that a song as historic as “Monster”—a supercharged posse cut with a guest verse from Nicki Minaj that has since been cemented as one of the greatest rap verses of the past 15 years—is accompanied by one of his most controversial videos (one of a few on this list that aren’t featured on ‘Ye’s VEVO). And it’s a little hard to find for good reason: The clip drew immediate and justified outcry when it was released due to its depiction of violence against women—dead in bed, hanging from the ceiling, decapitated, and so on. It’s offensive, it’s lazy, and for all of Kanye’s music video missteps in the 2010s, it’s boring and low-concept by comparison, too.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Runaway” (2010)

This thing…what do you even do with it? I know plenty of people—some on this very Noisey staff—who think this video is good in some form, be it the full-length version or the isolated “Runaway”-specific clip. This is my investigation, though, and I can’t be expected to answer on behalf of everyone, so: The “Runaway” video is trash. Accept it! It’s too long, all frilly costumes and posturing without any real meaning. It’s more boring than Barry Lyndon, a movie I only watched 20 minutes of several years ago, but still—I’d rather watch it again than watch the “Runaway” video.
VERDICT: Don’t even talk to me about it.

“All of the Lights” (2010)

Just watch the Enter the Void credit sequence again instead.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Otis” (2011)

This Watch the Throne cut is inarguably one of Kanye’s greatest videos, as well as possibly his strongest collaboration with Spike Jonze—a freewheeling celebration of excess that doubles as the perfect representative clip for the gaudy haughtiness of the album that it accompanies.
VERDICT: Perfect video.

“Niggas in Paris” (2012)

A performance video from the Watch the Throne tour. Are these ever enjoyable to watch? I wish I went to the Watch the Throne tour, but this is not an acceptable substitute.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“No Church in the Wild” (2012)

Essentially “Diamonds From Sierra Leone, Pt. 2”—a relatively conscious video for an album that embraces the antithesis of consciousness as its own conscience. Confused? Try watching protesters clash with cops in riot gear while Kanye affirms humorlessly, “You will not control the threesome.” Talk about mixed messaging!
VERDICT: Who even knows, man.

“Lost in the World” (2012)

Man, when’s the last time you heard anyone even mention this video’s existence? It’s fine though, some very cool interpretative dancing and mirrored floors and split-screen images of buildings as Bonny Bear lets the heater spray—but very forgettable.
VERDICT: Fine video.

“Mercy” [ft. Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz] (2012)

Everyone literally shows up for the video for this Cruel Summer highlight and ostensible Yeezus blueprint—basically ‘Ye, Big Sean, Pusha, and The Artist Formerly Known As Tity Boi—dressed up like some goddamn characters from The Division, looking tough in a parking lot. It’s shot pretty appealingly, though, the camera at a distance to create an air of mystery as everyone juts in and out of frame.
VERDICT: Fine video.

“Cold” (2012)

One of the best Cruel Summer tracks (and, not coincidentally, one of the only Kanye solo cuts on the compilation) has barely half a video—a Hype Williams-directed visual of Kanye rapping in a tunnel that’s tacked onto the end of the clip for DJ Khaled, ‘Ye, and Rick Ross’ “I Wish You Would.”
VERDICT: Barely a video.

“Black Skinhead” (2013)

I’ve got a complicated relationship with this video. When Kanye first showed some of its imagery while performing this song twice during the 2013 installment of NYC’s Governor’s Ball festival, the effect was perfectly menacing and awesome—but the video itself is shoddily made, full of seam-showing CGI and blocky visuals that less resemble, say, Arca, and more resemble bad Quake 2 footage.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Bound 2” (2013)

“One of the best videos of the 2010s,” a friend g-chatted me during one of many aforementioned “Does Kanye have any good music videos?” conversations I’ve had this week. “But it’s one that doesn’t try and make some artistic statement. It’s just a cool video.” Yeah, fine, I see the merit in this line of argument, and I also loved this Alex Pappademas piece in Grantland dissecting the Yeezus clip—but something about this video’s always felt a little too baked-in for me meme-wise, like a movie where you can tell the studio executives came up with the tagline for the poster before anyone wrote the script. It’s a feeling not dissimilar to the one that Drake’s “Hotline Bling” video gives off—but I also love that video, so I guess I have as many contradictions as Yeezus itself contains.
VERDICT: Bad video.

“Only One” (2015)

You know what? I hated this shit when it dropped, but now I love it. Extremely endearing stuff, in terms of heartbreaking moments with North West I would rank this video as a close second place next to a recent Keeping Up With the Kardashians scene where Kanye and North make snow angels. The tendency with visuals like these is to gaze upon them and say that Kanye “seems peaceful”—as if life for most people isn’t a constant war to begin with—but parenthood is an extreme in its own way, too, and for Kanye, lovingly embracing his child in the rain is just another, quieter way to pop a wheelie on the zeitgeist.
VERDICT: Good video.

“Famous” (2016)

I mean, you know how I feel about this video, but it’s worth reiterating: if there’s meaning to be found here, it’s shallow—and despite some extreme reactions that have been heavily ridiculed, the level of provocation in this video is somewhat equivalent to the line in “30 Hours” where Kanye says he only felt comfortable performing at Fashion Week by imagining everyone with their clothes off. Kanye really likes naked people, and he likes celebrities too. I think that’s pretty much it.
VERDICT: You know what it is.

What Have We Learned?

I was, ultimately, incorrect in asserting that Kanye West has never made a good music video. A few hours of revisiting his oeuvre has proven that, sporadically, he has made good music videos—although the bad certainly outweigh the good at this point. But isn’t it also true that bad art typically stands out more than good art does? Maybe the overarching lesson here is that, rather than making qualitative claims on art drawing from selective memory, it’s worth actually doing the research and going through the past instead of trusting your own memory. I still don’t like the “Famous” video, though—that will never change.

Larry Fitzmaurice only watches Vines these days, anyway. Follow him on Twitter.