Music videos serve as a platform for artists to showcase their creativity, with extravagant sets and choreography enthralling audiences globally. When it comes to the top 5 most expensive music videos of all-time, these productions redefine the boundaries of visual storytelling and showcase the immense investment behind crafting a captivating audio-visual experience.
From jaw-dropping sets to superstar cameos, you name it – these artists have explored their creativity and created art through their work.
Top 5 Most Expensive Music Videos of All Time
5. 2 LEGIT 2 QUIT (1991)
Cost of Production: $2,500,000
Artist: Mc Hammer
“2 Legit 2 Quit,” by Hammer featuring Saja, debuted on September 5, 1991, as the lead single from his fourth studio album. The song achieved notable success in the US, reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 5, and also charted at No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart.
The music video accompanying 2 Legit 2 Quit was directed by director Rupert Wainwright and boasted a runtime of nearly 15 minutes.
The video was No. 5 in MAX Music’s World’s Worst Ever Video countdown, and No. 1 in its Forgotten Video Clips countdown in 2008. It was also voted No. 24 on MTV’s all-time “25 Lame” countdown in 1999. However, it was selected as a viewer’s favorite by VH1.
4. HEARTBREAKER (1999)
Cost of Production: $2,500,000
Artist: Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z
Mariah Carey’s “Heartbreaker” featured Jay-Z and appeared on her seventh studio album Rainbow. It was released on August 23, 1999, by Columbia Records as the lead single from the album.
The song was produced by Carey and DJ Clue.
The Los Angeles Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles hosted the filming of the “Heartbreaker” music video from July 30 to August 1, 1999. Directed by Brett Ratner, it debuted on MTV’s Making the Video series on August 16, 1999, before airing regularly on the network.
MTV News considered the video a “fan favorite” because of its powerful message of female empowerment.
3. DOESN’T REALLY MATTER (2000)
Cost of Production: $2,500,000
Artist: Janet Jackson
Doesn’t Really Matter is a track by Janet Jackson featured on the soundtrack of the 2000 film Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and also included on her seventh studio album, All for You (2001). The song was written and produced by Jackson, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis.
“Doesn’t Really Matter” held the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in a row, marking the singer’s ninth song to achieve this feat in the US.
Joseph Kahn directed the music video for “Doesn’t Really Matter,” which depicted a futuristic city inspired by Tokyo. The video featured Jackson in an abstract anime-influenced setting, showcasing an AIBO, the first consumer Artificial Intelligence robot designed for adult and elderly companionship.
Kahn characterized the video’s concept as “epic minimalism,” aiming to distinguish it from the elaborate sets seen in other music videos of the same era.
2. VICTORY (1998)
Cost of Production: $2,700,000
Artist: Puff Daddy, featuring The Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes.
“Victory” released by rapper and producer Sean Combs (Diddy) during his Puff Daddy era, showcases vocal contributions from iconic artists like the late Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes. The track immerses listeners in the popular mafioso-style lyrical aesthetic of its time.
The music video for the song was directed by Marcus Nispel and is an homage to The Running Man. The almost eight-minute-long video featured cameos from Dennis Hopper as a New World Order dictator and Danny DeVito as a live action reporter. English socialites Tamara Beckwith and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson were also in the video.
- SCREAM (1995)
Cost of Production: $7,000,000
Artist: Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
“Scream” is a track by American siblings Michael and Janet Jackson, serving as the lead single from Michael Jackson’s ninth album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.
“Scream” is a confrontational song aimed at the tabloid media and their handling of the child sexual abuse accusations leveled against Michael Jackson in 1993.
The music video for “Scream,” which lasts 4 minutes and 47 seconds, was shot in May 1995. It was directed by Mark Romanek, with choreography by Travis Payne, LaVelle Smith Jnr, Tina Landon, Sacha Lucashenko, and Sean Cheesman. The production design was overseen by Tom Foden.
Absolutely daring! The fact that “Scream” remains the most expensive music video ever, nearly three decades after its filming in 1995, is quite remarkable.
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Main Image Credit: Kyle Loftus on Unsplash
