Leaving Her Footprints on the Sands of Time: A Journey Through Beyoncé’s Music Video Masterpieces

It was a warm summer night in early August. I stood in the packed stands of Soldier Field, munching on jalapeño-laden nachos, excitedly awaiting Queen B’s arrival. This was the second leg of Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s 2018 “On the Run II Tour.” I’d been listening to “EVERYTHING IS LOVE,” the couple’s first joint album, on repeat since June. When the lights finally dimmed, the stadium erupted in cheers, and the entire field was illuminated by flashing words: ON . . . THE . . . RUN . . II. For the next three hours, Beyoncé performed every hit imaginable, from “Irreplaceable” to “Formation” and “APESHIT.” Her impressive choreography and seamless outfit changes breathed life into every lyric, instrumental and beat drop. In a whirlwind of leopard print, head-to-toe metallic and gold gilded garb, Beyoncé proved, yet again, that she is the ultimate artist in every sense of the word.

As a global face of music, dance, fashion, scenography and visual art, the hip hop legend’s artistic prowess is truly unrivaled. Since her Destiny’s Child days (1997-2006), Beyoncé’s developed an impressive discography. Over the course of seven studio albums (totalling nearly 9 hours of music) and dozens of collaborative efforts, she’s championed racial equality, celebrated Black Girl Magic, redefined beauty standards and forever changed what it means to be “Flawless.” On March 14, she won her 28th Grammy Award, making her the most decorated artist in history. Imagine wandering into the Carters’ Bel-Air home and seeing more than two dozen glittering gramophones arranged on a shelf, or perhaps sparkling behind a custom glass display case. The power.

But most noteworthy is her revolutionary approach to video production. With Beyoncé, it’s not just about the songs, it’s about the visual presentation of those lyrics through cinematography, scenery, costume and lighting. You don’t just listen to “Drunk in Love,” you’re immersed in it through visual aesthetics central to the Beyoncé brand. Thus, the Queen and her team have helped revamp the once humble music video into something sophisticated, refined and worthy of attention in its own right. 

Watching the “Single Ladies” or “BROWN SKIN GIRL” music videos for the first time is like hearing these songs all over again. To pay homage to her cinematic successes, let’s relive some of Bey’s most iconic music video moments, beginning with the video that started it all.

“Crazy in Love” MTV Video Music Awards “Best Female Video," "Best R&B Video" & "Best Choreography” (2003)

Directed by Jake Nava, the British talent behind many of the classic Britney Spears and Adele music videos, “Crazy in Love” features shots of Mission Road and the Fourth Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles. It has all the right ingredients for a Y2K hit: dramatic costume changes, dizzying camera shifts, cutoffs with heels, a gushing fire hydrant, the occasional burning car — you know, the usual craziness of true love in 2003. Toward the end of the compilation, somehow, everything works out for the best. Beyoncé emerges from a rain storm onto an abandoned runway. She effortlessly swaps her drenched streetwear for hoops, glossy lips and orange and pink Versace. Compared to today’s music videos, this all might seem like a bit much. However, this is precisely why 18 years later, we still can’t get enough of it. 

Beyoncé’s Versace dress was previously listed on WorthPoint Corporation (a digital platform for researching, valuing and selling/buying vintage collectibles) for $1,000. The dress was part of Versace’s Spring 2003 Ready-To-Wear collection, and according to the listing “Two identical dresses were made for Beyoncé by Versace . . . This [the one listed] was fitted especially for Beyoncé.”

“Run the World (Girls)” MTV Video Music Award “Best Choreography" (2011)

Beyoncé and her clan of girl-warriors transport us to a post-apocalyptic desert filled with lions, twin hyenas of mammoth proportions, burning cop cars and miscellaneous 21st-century debris. “Run the World (Girls)” is directed by Francis Lawrence and filmed in California's southeast Mojave Desert and Inglewood neighborhood. Through a series of extraterrestrial-inspired battle footage, opening with Beyoncé’s entrance on horseback, it becomes obvious that 1) the earth is in a dire state of chaos and 2) Beyoncé and her girls are ready to take charge and do what they do best, which is, of course, run the world.

Each outfit screams goddess-gone-gladiator. A red and black puff-sleeved Alexander McQueen dress and Grinling Gibbons thigh-high show boots compliment the sea of red “B” flags. This dress was released as part of McQueen’s Fall 2010 collection, which was tragically the last collection he designed. Interestingly, in a 2011 article for the blog “Your Next Shoes,” Erika Hansen notes that in the scene featuring McQueen’s look, every woman is wearing an article of clothing from Beyoncé’s own closet. 

After seeing the work of Tofo Tofo, a three-man Mozambican dance group, Beyoncé was inspired to integrate their style of dance into her video. In fact, she ended up collaborating with the dance group and even featured them in the final video.

What really distinguishes “Run the World (Girls)” from other music videos is the absurdly avant-garde footwear. If these Gareth Pugh Starship Enterprise heels aren’t proof enough, I don’t know what is.

“APESHIT” MTV Video Music Awards “Best Cinematography" & "Best Art Direction" (2018)

“I can’t believe we made it (this is what we made, made)” reverberates off the Louvre’s walls. While the artists represented in the capital of Parisian art may not “believe [Beyoncé and Jay-Z] made it,” we certainly can. In “APESHIT,” the Carters reimagine Eurocentric standards of “fine art” by bringing Blackness to the Louvre's historically exclusionary environment. Trap lyrics play as the couple stands in monochrome pastel pantsuits before the Mona Lisa. Stylist Zerina Akers is the mastermind behind the video’s breathtaking looks. A caramel-colored MCM buster and trench coat pair nicely with the Egyptian “Great Sphinx of Tanis.” Versace’s iconic Baroque print makes an appearance during interspersed shots of the Carters relishing in their masterpiece of a music video.

In one scene, Beyoncé lies at the foot of the “Winged Victory of Samothrace,” known more familiarly as Nike, the ancient Greek goddess of victory. She mimics the statue's marble elegance by wrapping herself in (yet another) cape. This time, it’s a ruffled white Alexis Mabille. These not-so-subtle gestures make it clear that Beyoncé is Nike, descending from Olympus to bring victory. After all, occupying the Louvre in such an impactful way is a victory, even by mythological standards.

The choreographed dance at the feet of Jacques Louis-David’s “The Coronation of Napoleon” is another unforgettable scene. Candy Lang for Time Magazine explains that Queen Bey doesn’t need confirmation of her worthiness, just like Napoleon didn’t need the church to crown him emperor. Beyoncé’s a contemporary Joséphine. She’s built a career on breaking the rules and seeking endorsement from no one but herself — a strategy which has, to this day, proven hugely successful.

Since “On the Run Tour II,” Beyoncé’s continued to wow us with stellar cinematography. Her latest — “BROWN SKIN GIRL” — dropped just last year, and, not surprisingly, won a Grammy for “Best Music Video.” I can’t wait to see what brilliance she has in store for us next . . . *manifests solo album #7.*