I get that it’s 2015 and it feels like every idea has been said and done already, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of creativity and innovation from many of today’s artists. Nowadays, it feels like people only release videos because they feel like they have to, and not with the intention of creating something beautiful and artistic. Why is that? Just because you need videos to stay relevant in this era of hip-hop, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to put in effort.

Back in the days of Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes’ videos, it was hard to associate their music without the accompanying videos to their songs. They gave us carefully crafted images of how they wanted you to see their sound. That’s exactly what has made their music arguably timeless, and their legacies so long lasting. Even Beyoncé has been driven by the creativity of music videos, and paved a new path for them to make a comeback, releasing a full album’s worth.

There’s no recipe to crafting a perfect set of visuals for listeners, but the days of putting hearts, souls, and raw ideas into them should not be dead and gone. With the incredible year of music that 2015 has been producing, the imagery should be matching it. It’s time for the real music video to stand back up and make a real comeback. –LindseyIndia