This week Taylor Swift dropped her much-anticipated video for “The Man” — a single off her new album Lover that fans latched onto like no other. Though we see glimpses of her writing the song during her Miss Americana documentary, it really wasn’t until she started performing the song live that it became so clear what an anthem this song had become. To do it justice, she directed the video for the song herself, undergoing a strange transformation into the masculine version of Taylor.
It seemed like the perfect opportunity to revisit a number of excellent videos directed by Taylor’s pop-star peers themselves, and talk about what happens when the person who is usually in front of the lens gets behind it, too. This list is ranked in order of my favorites, as a quick look back at some of the best pop-stars-as-directors of the last decade, and where Taylor’s new effort lands in comparison to her contemporaries. Read on — and watch — below.
10. Rihanna — “Pour It Up”
Year: 2013
Directed by: Robyn Rihanna Fenty
We will begin this list with one Robyn Fenty, we turned heads with this gorgeously explicit celebration of female gaze. For anyone who thought the strippers weren’t the ones with the power, wait until those bills fall to the ground — that’s Rihanna’s face on the currency. From this flex, to twerking upside down on a throne, the “Pour It Up” video is full of images only Rihanna’s brain could dream up, and she executes them so well.
9. Sia — “Chandelier”
Year: 2014
Directed by: Sia and Daniel Askill
In so many ways, it was this video that put Sia on the map as a primary artist and not just a songwriter. Yes, the song is an essential component, too, but the concept of this tiny dancing girl in a Sia wig, that was all her. Enlisting Daniel Askill for the assist, young Maddie Ziegler dances in the wreckage of a party girl’s apartment, capturing the desperation and exultance of living moment to moment in her jerky, graceful moments.
8. Halsey — “Now Or Never”
Year: 2017
Directed by: Halsey and Sing J Lee
Back before the radio was just like 50% Halsey, she was still an emerging pop star on an indie label with something to prove. And prove it she did on her massive sophomore album, hopeless fountain kingdom, a brilliantly weird concept album anchored by the hit, “Now Or Never.” In a video that continues the song’s dystopian, doomed storyline, she faces the ups and downs with a lover who is forbidden. This all plays out in darkly luxurious and beautifully decrepit setting that only Halsey herself could’ve dreamed up, including the tragic ending.
7. Hayley Kiyoko — “I Wish”
Year: 2019
Directed by: Hayley Kiyoko
It’s about time pop music gets some seriously queer female artists singing about getting their hearts broken by girls — men aren’t the only ones who suck at love. Hayley Kiyoko has offered an eager generation just that, and in the self-directed video for “I Wish” combines all those breakup feels with witchy, girlish folklore and dancing in schoolgirl clothes. A man could’ve never dreamed up a video this sweetly aggressive. Oh, to be possessed by the ghosts that animate these girls.
6. FKA Twigs — “Glass & Patron”
Year: 2015
Directed by: FKA Twigs
Maybe it’s revisionist history, but I remember when this video came out five years ago it put Twigs on the map in such a big way. Not just for the inclusion of vogue-ing and her nod to ballroom culture, but for all the weird sh*t she does in the clip, including masturbating with a pregnant belly. What big-budget director would’ve ever let that slip through? “Glass & Patron” is a peek inside the head of FKA Twigs, and of course it’s icy in there, and full of incredible dancers.
5. Lady Gaga — “Marry The Night”
Year: 2011
Directed by: Lady Gaga
In this nearly fourteen-minute video, more of a short film than a music video, Gaga reflects on getting dropped from her former label, Def Jam, and renewing her hold on her own career. From strangely narrated trek through a European hospital/asylum, to smearing cheerios across her naked body in a studio apartment bathtub, to dancing on a blazing car, this video’s artistic scope is enough to let the viewer know Gaga herself made it. It’s almost laughable to watch her wondering if she’ll make it — if only she knew back then that all those Oscars were coming.
4. Taylor Swift — “The Man”
Year: 2020
Directed by: Taylor Swift
Taylor’s marvelous take on a gender-flip was expertly pulled off, enough to land her really high up on this list. That moment at the end, where she’s sitting in the director’s chair and the male actor comes off set asking for affirmation, that was probably my favorite. Oh, and the graffiti with all her album titles scrawled in. Easter eggs like these are a signature touch of Taylor’s, and this video is full of them.
3. Grimes — “Genesis”
Year: 2012
Directed by: Claire Boucher (Grimes)
Brooke Candy forever. One of the best things about Grimes is when she notices another artist’s talent, she’ll go full tilt trying to get them the credit she thinks they deserve, too. Boucher and Candy co-starred in the “Genesis” video, which is still one of the biggest songs Grimes has ever released, and is arguably the biggest look of Brooke Candy’s career. She owned that lens well, and watching her dance, it only makes sense that’s Grimes behind the lens, orchestrating her every move.
2. Lana Del Rey — “Video Games”
Year: 2011
Directed by: Lana Del Rey
Did you know the “Video Games” video was completely created and directed by Lana Del Rey? This was, of course, when she was still an unknown singer named Lizzie Grant trying to figure out exactly who and what she wanted to be. But then again, it’s all there, already, in “Video Games.” With her new album Norman F*cking Rockwell finally giving Del Rey the masterpiece this video always pointed to, it’s fun to revisit the visual now and see how self-assured Lana’s aesthetic has always been.
1. Rihanna — “Bitch Better Have My Money”
Year: 2015
Directed by: Robyn Rihanna Fenty and MegaForce
The number one artist-directed video in my mind is “Bitch Better Have My Money,” a one-off from Rihanna that was clearly a lead single gone sour — but only because society wasn’t ready for it yet. In the period of time when Anti wasn’t yet in the world, but Rihanna hadn’t yet bulldozed her way through the label’s red tape, this song and video came out, turning heads and raising eyebrows everywhere. Rihanna as Quentin Tarantino character never gets old, and this video is aging like a fine wine.
