Recommendations of the Editorial team
From daring to vulgar to forbidden. We count down the hottest, nastiest, and most talked-about clips from Beyoncé, Prince, Madonna, and more. Sex and pop music have gone hand in hand since the days of Elvis’ hip swing. But with the launch of MTV in 1981, this relationship became even more apparent.
Eye-catching videos like Duran Duran’s “Girls on Film” caused early controversy, while Madonna and Prince built their pop empires on their willingness to push boundaries.
These 30 videos, spanning from the early days of MTV to the era of YouTube-enabled smartphones, caused a stir and discussion.
30. Cher, “If I Could Turn Back Time”
The leave-to-the-imagination fishnet bodysuit Cher wore in her 1989 video for “If I Could Turn Back Time” was definitely not military-compliant. But that didn’t stop versatile pop icon and director Marty Callner from filming the clip on the USS Missouri, where she was surrounded by enthusiastic crew members.
However, the Navy was officially less enthusiastic, and when the clip was broadcast, “moral outrage” ensued. “The Navy worked closely with the producer to ensure the video would be in good taste,” wrote Lt. Cmdr. AJ Dooley in a statement issued after the video was released. “However, changes in the final stages of production, including Cher’s revealing costume, were not foreseen and introduced undertones that we had tried to avoid during our pre-production planning.”
29. TLC, “Red Light Special”
Matthew Rolston, who directed TLC’s raunchy video for “Creep,” also helmed this 1994 clip, which stars Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes as the matriarch of a brothel where Boris Kodjoe (“Brown Sugar,” “Real Husbands of Hollywood”) works.
“The first thing that came to mind was a flashing red strobe light and someone doing stripper moves,” Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, who plays strip poker with her bandmate Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, told Vibe in 2013. “Whatever tricks there are. That’s my red light special.”
28. FKA Twigs, “Papi Pacify”
FKA Twigs’ intense black-and-white clip for her 2013 single “Papi Pacify” is full of limbs and longing. The British electro-soul singer stares into the camera as she cuddles up to her lover. The scenes in which he puts his fingers in her mouth were, as she later told the British newspaper Evening Standard, also a reference to an “emotionally abusive” relationship she had been in.
“In this relationship, I couldn’t communicate. The person I was with prevented me from explaining my feelings. The physical manifestation of that is someone putting their hand in your mouth. But there’s also an element that I like about it. It’s messed up. It’s addictive.”
27. Michael Jackson, “In the Closet”
This 1992 pas de deux between Michael Jackson and Naomi Campbell, directed by master of monochrome Herb Ritts and shot on the Salton Sea in California during Jackson’s Dangerous era, smolders as the track, co-produced by Jackson and New Jack Swing architect Teddy Riley, pops and grooves. And shows new sides of the King of Pop both on screen and on record.
26. Usher, “Confessions, Pt. II”
Usher goes through several stages of breakup pain in this 2004 video, directed by Chris Robinson. And shows the singer in a conflict with two women before he is thrown out the door by his lover.
He works himself into such a state that he takes off his shirt and shows off his toned abs in shots that recall a much more rueful version of D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel).”
25. En Vogue, “Giving Him Something He Can Feel”
Girl group En Vogue covered Aretha Franklin’s seductive 1976 song (written by Curtis Mayfield) and released a video in 1992 that showcased the quartet’s sheer vocal power.
As En Vogue, dressed in matching red dresses that pay homage to the Supremes-inspired film “Sparkle,” meanders and sighs through “Feel,” the men in the audience grow hotter and more restless. And they shed their inhibitions (and sometimes their accessories) as the performance unfolds its magic.