It’s Official: Nostalgia Is The Biggest Music Video Trend Of 2018
Turns out we're all obsessed with the turn of the millennium.
When Ariana Grande dropped her hotly-anticipated video for ‘thank u, next’ this weekend, she broke YouTube records by reaching 46,000,000 views in 24 hours. It’s a testament to both Grande’s cultural capital (and talent, duh), and her ability to tap into what might be one of 2018’s most populist cache: short-term nostalgia.
By teasing the music video’s spoofs of four dearly-loved early 2000s films, Grande turned the usual fan-fever into a wide-spread fire. But she’s not been the only artist to lean into nostalgia this year: from Charli XCX to Kelela, a slew of artists have filled their music videos with turn of the millennium references.
Of course, music videos nodding to much-loved films is nothing new, but there’s been an abundance this year. Here are six of our favourites.
Alex Winston — ‘Tourist’
The smallest reference to 1999 cult classic Drop Dead Gorgeous makes us giddy, so this video for Alex Winston’s first song in three years makes us want to… well, drop dead.
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Allison Janney and Kirstie Alley (and a very young Amy Adams in her first film), the film is a mockumentary centred on the dark world of a Minnesota teen beauty pageant. In this film clip, Winston recreates the pageant in all its ridiculousness, plus a scene where Dunst’s character dances through the suburban streets.
Anne-Marie — ‘2002’
Despite the song’s name, Anne-Marie’s video doesn’t strictly stick to 2002 (which, incidentally, shares a director with thank u, next’, Hannah Lux Davis) when it comes to looks and references. In fact, none of the music videos it lifts from were released in 2002.
Throughout, there’s references to Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time’ (1998), *NSYNC’s ‘Bye Bye Bye’ (2000), Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’ (2004) and Nelly’s ‘Ride Wit Me’ (2000). We’ll forgive her, though: since the song’s about her pre-teen crushes, we know that at that age the years tend to bleed into each other.
Ariana Grande — ‘thank u, next’
For her appreciative break-up anthem, Grande reimagines four of her favourite rom-coms: Mean Girls, Suddenly 30, Bring It On, and Legally Blonde. With a giant budget, the video’s filled with cameos (Jennifer Coolidge and Legally Blonde‘s UPS delivery man reunite! Kris Jenner as Regina George’s mum! The real Aaron Samuels!) and elaborate, detail-driven sets.
Complete with mini-skits and easter eggs, the thing’s a delight to watch: of all things, we lost it during the Suddenly 30 section, when Grande had her hair tucked behind her ears in the exact idiosyncratic way Jennifer Garner does. Sure, the tie-through to the song’s message could be a little clearer, but it’s too much fun to really worry.
Bruno Mars — ‘Finesse (Remix) feat. Cardi B’
Way back in January, Bruno Mars dropped this remix of his 2016 song ‘Finesse’ with none other than Cardi B. The music video plays off the song’s ’90s hip-hop sound straight from the jump — the video’s opening scene, where Cardi and Mars paint and graffiti spray the camera, is a direct reference to The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’s opening credits.
Meanwhile, Cardi and the female dancers’ outfits are straight out of TLC’s lookbook, while the rooftop set is a near-replica of ’90s Nickelodeon show Roundhouse. At the end, text dedicates the video to In Living Colour, a sketch series that launched the career of J-Lo, Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey.
There’s a heap of other references too: Billboard runs through them line-by-line.
Charli XCX & Troye Sivan — ‘1999’
A green-screen delight, Charli XCX & Troye Sivan’s ‘1999’ sees the duo go back in time and recreate some of the year’s most memorable film scenes, ads and music videos.
There’s the blockbusters, like Titanic, The Matrix and American Beauty, as well as a blink-and-you-miss-it reference to The Blair Witch Project‘s iconic snot-shots and cosplaying as the era’s biggest acts. We’re pretty scarred by seeing Sivan as Eminem, but everything was saved by Charli as Steve Jobs.
Sure, there’s a couple of references that aren’t from ‘1999’ (The Sims came out in 2000, guys), but does it really matter? It’s more about the idea of the year, geez — especially given Charli and Sivan were respectively 4 and 7 years old back in 1999.
Kelela — ‘Frontline’
Admittedly, this one’s less of a direct dive into nostalgia’s waters than a toe-dip. But attention must be paid to this stunning, surprisingly moving clip. In February, Kelela released this ‘The Sims-inspired’ video for ‘Frontline’, a highlight from her debut album Take Me Apart. Co-directed by Kelela, the video sees her sim-like avatar drive through highways, cry over shitty lovers, and then dance it all out.
Jared Richards is a staff writer at Junkee, and co-host of Sleepless In Sydney on FBi Radio. Follow him on Twitter.