Music videos rarely have a place on television these days, but that doesn't mean they're a dying form — if anything, the DIY Internet age has made them more interesting. These were the best clips of the year, instant classics and cultural touchstones that will be remembered well into 2013 and beyond. Also be sure to check out our list of the most.controversial videos of the year, and of course, the year's sexiest.
Best Music Video That Makes Moms Feel Cool: PSY - "Gangnam Style"
To American audiences, PSY's cartoonish video for "Gangnam Style" registers as a series of colorful non sequiturs set to a thumping club beat. But no one's complaining. The video has racked up nearly a billion views within a matter of months, proving itself the viral trend that cannot be vanquished. Even Insane Clown Posse loved it. Brilliant.
Best Use of Threads: Solange Knowles - "Losing You"
There's a gorgeous simplicity to the Melina Matsoukas-directed video for "Losing You," which features the singer shaking her thing in a variety of colorful outfits all over Cape Town's Langa suburb, accompanied at times by members of the ever-elegant Le Sape Society. It's absolutely the most stylish music video of the year, featuring threads by Suno, Opening Ceremony, and Diane Von Furstenberg, among others.
Best Use of Muscle Mass: Pink - "Try"
When Pink announced her plans to release the Floria Sigismondi-directed video for "Try," she couldn't help but gush, "I never wanted it to end. It's my favorite video ever." It's also her most powerful, with its jarringly physical depiction of a love that's as traumatic as it is triumphant. The singer drew a standing ovation at the 2012 American Music Awards when she replicated the Golden Boyz choreography during a pitch-perfect performance.
Best Stoned Pineapple: Snoop Lion, "La La La"
The artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg celebrated his transformation into reggae artist Snoop Lion with children dressed as animals, blazed fruit, and a few barely clothed ladies. It's like Pee Wee's Playhouse on drugs. Well, more drugs.
Best Artful Display of Booty: Diplo feat. Lazerdisk Party Sex - "Set It Off"
Ryan Staake created the most visually stunning music video ever to feature a stripper pole with "Set It Off," which showcases an aerial dancers' athleticism against an interstellar backdrop. It's also epically sexy.
Best Unabashed Display of Booty: 2 Chainz - "Birthday Song"
No lie: The Andreas Nilsson-directed video for "Birthday Song" is way better than the song. In fact, the song probably wouldn't have been half as popular had the video not produced visual gems like this, and this, and this. The world is a better place because of that booty cake, 2 Chainz. Thank you for that.
Most Powerfully Depressing: Grizzly Bear - "Yet Again"
There are few visuals more pathetic than a sequin-clad figure skater limping around a deserted carnival. Director Emily Kai Bock, the woman behind Grimes' much-lauded "Oblivion" video, paints a textured portrait of teenage alienation that culminates in a scene of primal rage.
Best Use of Old-School Footage: Drake - "HYFR"
Okay, let's be honest: The video for "HYFR" could be a non-stop loop of a pre-adolescent Aubrey "Drake" Graham doing the running man and it still would have made this list. But that's just a small fraction of the fun of this party video, which re-enacts the moment when Drake became a man. The PG moment, anyway.
Best Lady Gaga Lookalike: Young Rival - "Two Reasons"
Young Rival was moved to contact Michigan artist James Kuhn after discovering his blog through Reddit in 2011. Kuhn agreed to collaborate with the band on a music video, physically mailing 25 CDs featuring the artist's own lip-synched performances which were then edited into this remarkable two-and-a-half minute clip. There's a Gaga appearance — and we think she'd wholeheartedly approve.
Best Use of Puppets: Ben Folds Five - "Do It Anyway"
CeeLo can have the Muppets: The Fraggle Rock crew is where it's at. Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, Red and Uncle Traveling Matt all make appearances in this video for "Do It Anyway," the lead single off Ben Folds Five's The Sound of the Life of the Mind. Our favorite moment comes at 5:10 — don't miss it.
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