What a decade it’s been in music!
Many of today’s talented performers have helped us express and believe in ourselves through the power of song.
But more importantly, many of today’s artists have been stepping up their sexy music video game!
To celebrate how far we’ve come in music video sexiness over the past decade, we’ve compiled a list of the absolute sexiest videos from the 2010s for your viewing pleasure — so take a walk down memory lane and ch-ch-check em out (below)!!
Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé, ‘Telephone’ (2010)
Lady GaGa kicked off the decade with a cinematic, 9-minute short that blends murder, a sandwich-making tutorial, and Quentin Tarantino references and somehow still manages to be sexy. In the video for Telephone — which is actually a sequel to the Paparazzi video — GaGa is bailed out of a women’s prison by her partner in crime, Beyoncé (ahem, Honey Bee). The two to hop in the Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill: Volume I and head to a diner, where they proceed to poison Honey Bee’s problematic lover and drive off into the sunset together. Love wins; so does meta-cyanide.
Katy Perry, ‘California Gurls’ (2010)
Later that summer, Katy Perry launched her sophomore album Teenage Dream with this sweet, sexy visual feast. Like the upbeat track itself, the video for California Gurls paid tribute to the singer’s native Golden State — but with a confectious spin: it shows Katy wandering through the Candy Cane forest, nakedly perched atop the Cotton Candy clouds, and dancing on the beach in a teeny-weeny cupcake bikini. To top it all off, Katy ends the video by dousing Californialand in whipped cream. When can we book our flights!?
Rihanna, ‘S&M’ (2011)
Sadomasochism might not be everyone’s thing, but Rihanna certainly made whips and chains exciting with this colorful, tantalizing video. Coming in during her Loud era, the video shows the songstress in both master and slave scenarios, proving that this makeup mogul has always been a multi-hyphenate.
But there’s more at play here: director Melina Metsoukas told Billboard in 2011 the video is actually an allegory for Riri’s “sadomasochist relationship with the press… it isn’t just about a bunch of whips and chains.” That probably explains the shots of the star whipping reporters and internet bloggers…
Miley Cyrus, ‘Wrecking Ball’ (2013)
By 2013, Miley Cyrus had been trying to shed her wholesome, Disney Channel image for a few years. She was done pandering to the Hanna Montana-loving, teeny-bopping fans, and more than ready to be seen as a grown-up *artiste*. Thus, Bangerz Miley was born.
While the singer first commenced this short-haired, twerkful era with the music video for We Can’t Stop, the followup video for Wrecking Ball really showed what a force she was becoming. Sexy highlights of this video include the starlet swinging on a wrecking ball naked and licking a hammer while she sings about being wrecked by someone in her life. Needless to say, fans were wrecked after watching this.
FKA twigs, ‘Papi Pacify’ (2013)
The dramatic, black-and-white video for FKA twigs‘ single Papi Pacify shows the British singer clinging to a lover in ecstasy. Despite the sensual visuals, however, the video is actually an artistic depiction of an emotionally abusive relationship the star had been in. Speaking to Evening Standard, Twigs said the scenes where her lover sticks his fingers in her mouth represented the moments in that relationship when she couldn’t express herself, explaining:
“In the relationship I couldn’t communicate. The person I was with was stopping me from explaining how I felt. So the physical manifestation is someone putting their hand in your mouth. But there’s an element, too, of liking that as well. It’s messed up. It’s addictive.”
We’d say she definitely captured that feeling with this clip!
Beyoncé, ‘Partition’ (2014)
A year after giving birth to Blue Ivy, Beyoncé wanted to remind the world she was still as sexy as ever. Enter Partition: the freakum song that was so seductive, the star was reportedly afraid to play it for her mom. Set in part at the Parisian cabaret Crazy Horse, where Bey and JAY-Z got engaged, the video shows the songstress playing onstage temptress to her hubby.
She said in the making-of documentary, Self-Titled:
“I know that there’s so many women that feel the same thing after they give birth. You can have your child and you can still have fun and still be sexy and still have dreams and still live for yourself…I’m not embarrassed about it, and I don’t feel like I have to protect that side of me because I do believe that sexuality is a power we all have.”
DJ Snake & Lil’ Jon, ‘Turn Down For What’ (2014)
In this surreal video directed by The Daniels (the duo behind that wonderfully bizarre Daniel Radcliffe corpse movie), a man with an insatiable urge to dance possesses everyone in his apartment building floor-by-floor, resulting in a dance party of comically horny tenants unable to control their appendages. It’s semi-NSFW, if d**ks rhythmically pulsating underneath sweatpants is something you don’t want your boss to see you watching.
Nicki Minaj, ‘Anaconda’ (2014)
Months later, Nicki Minaj reinforced the power of booty with the sweltering Anaconda music video. The rapper’s ode to her backside was accompanied by this jaw-dropping clip that costars a pent up Drake and an equally frustrated banana. While there are buns and hips galore, the video is actually all about Nicki maintaining control in the art of seduction. She told GQ in 2014:
“At first I’m being sexual with the banana, and then it’s like, ‘Ha-ha, no.’ That was important for us to show in the kitchen scene, because it’s always about the female taking back the power, and if you want to be flirty and funny that’s fine, but always keeping the power and the control in everything.”
Call her the anaconda whisperer!
Selena Gomez, ‘Hands To Myself’ (2016)
Years before Netflix‘s You came out and gave everyone complicated feelings about stalkers, Selena Gomez decided to make stalking sexy with this incredible music video that was released in January 2016.
In 2015, Selena tapped director Alek Keshishian to direct the video for her touchy-feely single Hands to Myself, in which she plays a stalker who breaks into her celebrity crush’s house. In a making-of clip, Selly said she wanted the concept of the video “to feel like it was two different versions of being in this fantasy,” adding:
“I think everybody can have those moments where they’re dreaming about what their life could be, especially if they’re girls with love, being obsessed with an idea and you can’t control yourself, because that’s what you want no matter what is happening.”
Kanye West, ‘Fade’ (2016)
The visuals for Kanye West‘s Life of Pablo jam Fade are primarily a sweaty Flashdance-esque workout featuring Teyana Taylor. But once she hits the showers, things take an odd turn: she’s joined by her husband, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert, for some steamy passion before she transforms into a panting lioness while their baby is held skyward by a flock of sheep.
Charli XCX, ‘Boys’ (2017)
Charli XCX intentionally flipped the male gaze in this cheeky self-directed video for Boys that features 60 cameos from male celebs. Among the boys she enlists are Joe Jonas (for pancake eating), Chromeo (for pillow fighting), Cameron Dallas (for chainsaw flexing), and Diplo (for puppy bench pressing). We hereby nominate Charli to direct every music video until the end of time.
Tove Lo, ‘Disco T*ts’ (2017)
Tove Lo blended sex with comedy in the 2017 video for Disco T*ts, showing her on a wild, drug-filled road trip with a Muppet in desperate need of a good time. After the fuzzy talk show host agrees to go off with the singer, he’s quickly corrupted into snorting powdery substances and giving her oral sex while she’s driving. Moral of the story: Tove Lo will make a man out of any Muppet.
Cardi B, ‘Money’ (2018)
Cardi B proved that while money can’t buy happiness, it sure can pay for an alluring music video with this 2018 clip. The Money video surrounds the rapper with bare-nippled strippers and levitating pole dancers, putting Cardi in a glass case at the center of a museum room, as a gold statue on a spinning display, and as the Madonna breastfeeding her baby, Kulture.
Normani, ‘Motivation’ (2019)
After breaking free from Fifth Harmony, Normani proved she didn’t need Camila Cabello and co. to make a sexy music video. In the Motivation video, the singer paid tribute to her pop idols with visual references to Beyoncé‘s Crazy in Love and Britney Spears‘ …Baby One More Time; plus, lots of Brit and Bey-level sexy dancing. We’d say she did them proud!
Harry Styles, ‘Lights Up’ (2019)
Harry Styles cemented his sex symbol status at the end of the decade with this orgiastic clip. The Lights Up video places the former One Direction member in a gaggle of sweaty bodies, with people of all genders fighting to put their hands on the shirtless singer. It did little to quell the speculation about Harry’s ever-ambiguous sexuality, but we’re not complaining.
Did we miss any sexy videos, Perezcious readers? Share more of your faves from this decade in the comments!
[Image via YouTube]
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