From MTV to TikTok: How the Hip Hop Video Changed

The hip hop video has always been about more than selling a song. It is where artists build a world, start trends and introduce themselves. Over 40 years, where we watch those videos has changed everything about how they get made.

The MTV Era

In the early 80s, rap videos were rare on TV. That started to change when Run-DMC broke through on MTV, and in 1988 the network launched Yo! MTV Raps. Suddenly fans everywhere could see the artists, the fashion and the neighborhoods behind the music. A great video could make a career overnight.

The Big Budget Era

By the late 90s, videos were mini movies. Directors like Hype Williams and Paul Hunter brought fisheye lenses, shiny suits, helicopters and lowriders. Labels spent like Hollywood studios, and premieres on TV were events everyone talked about the next day.

The YouTube Era

YouTube changed the gatekeepers. Artists no longer needed a TV network to reach fans. Independent rappers could shoot a video for almost nothing, upload it and watch it spread. View counts became the new charts, and the global audience became the new standard.

The TikTok Era

Today, a 15 second clip can matter as much as a full video. Songs blow up from dances, memes and snippets before the official video even drops. Lil Nas X turned “Old Town Road” into a phenomenon in 2019 largely through TikTok, and artists now plan short clips alongside their big visuals.

What Comes Next

The format keeps shrinking and stretching at the same time: short clips to hook you, cinematic videos to keep you. One thing has never changed. The best hip hop videos still show us something we have never seen before.

Want to see how it all looks year by year? Explore the top hip hop videos of every year since 1982.

Photo: Jeff Pinilla / CC BY 3.0