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Rihanna f/ Drake "Work" (Director X, Tim Erem, dir.)

Ever get torn between two video concepts for one song? Well, if you're Rihanna and Drake you just make both videos and place them back-to-back, like it's a two-for-one special. Part 1 is directed by Director X and takes place at a sultry Jamaican hotspot called The Real Jerk (pun probably intended). Part 2 is the more revealing (pun very much intended) clip, with director Tim Erem capturing the two getting cozy under a pink light. 

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Selena Gomez "Hands To Myself" (Alek Keshishian, dir.)

You might get the sense that Selena Gomez is toying with you in this sexy twisty stylish video. Is she a play-at-home sexpot pining for the movie star? Or are the two of them living in bliss and she's just missing him when he's at work? Or maybe she's just a stalker.

Whatever the case, she's got her hands full in this welcome return from director Alek Keshishian (who you should know from his groundbreaking 1991 tour documentary film Madonna: Truth Or Dare).

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Missy Elliott f/ Pharrell "WTF (Where They From)" (Dave Meyers, Missy Elliott, dir.)

Put on your disco ball suit and rejoice the reteam of Missy Elliott and director Dave Meyers — "Work It" and "Lose Control," just to name two collabos — who unfurl the kind of looks and set-ups (plus marionettes!) that make clear that Missy is just as fresh despite the 10 year gap.

Here's hoping the end sequence isn't a reference for disappearing for another large gap.

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Apple Music Premieres Eminem "Phenomenal" Music Film

You knew Eminem's history with both Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre meant he would show up in the Apple Music launch, but did you expect his contribution to be a music video that casts him as an ass-kicking Neo-style action-adventure star? Or, for John Malkovich to have a cameo as a mysterious purveyor of noodles and wisdom?  The nearly 8-minute big-budget opus starts in a hospital and ends with a helicopter leap to a rendezvous with Dr Dre — plus, instead of the usual Beats product placements, we get an integrated storyline with an Apple Watch.

update: as of October 1, 2015, the video is now up on YouTube and VEVO...

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Taylor Swift "Bad Blood" Breaks Viewership Records

Yes, we know Taylor Swift is popular, but just to make sure you realize how big she is on the heels of her star-studded "Bad Blood" video, take a look at the numbers:

  • 20 million - "Bad Blood" broke the 24 hour VEVO record for most views in one day, getting nearly 20 million views in one day.
  • 37 million - Total "Bad Blood" views as I write this, four days after the premiere.
  • 5 billion - Total view count for all her videos.
  • 11 million - Total estimated viewers to the Billboard Music Awards, which televised the exclusive world premiere of the video.

It's like there's the music business, and then there's the Taylor Swift business, with the only similarity being that they use some of the same notes...