10 years ago, YouTube was founded. Over here on The Indiependent we are celebrating its 10th anniversary by taking a look back at the most viewed music videos on the site, although a quick warning, they are also some of the most disliked too.
Wrecking Ball // Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus did indeed come in like a wrecking ball with the media storm of 2013. No one could avoid the wrath of the old Disney darling swinging naked atop of an actual wrecking ball. Neither could we all resist taking a peek at the root of all this commotion and giggling at the thousands of parodies created. The song itself isn’t the worst in the world (we’ve got that to come) but whether it was amazing or dire, it had nothing on the controversial video that had everyone talking.
Gentleman // PSY
Who knows what on earth is happening in this video, why people viewed it in the first place and what he’s even saying. It’s one of those questions in life that you don’t want to know the answer to. A Korean Pitbull that happily objectifies women and treat them like rubbish on screen. If you are anyway a feminist, we suggest you don’t dare watch this or you’ll be enraged enough to listen again. Once more, we find ourselves a song that would be lost without the music video and provocative nature.
Roar // Katy Perry
We will move past the abundance of fake tan and appalling acting skills. Roar has the unforgettable (and unavoidable) quality to it, lending itself to reach this list. It isn’t half bizarre – elephants receiving a pedicure and selfies with a monkey. However, unlike the last song, the lyrics represent empowerment and personal worth yet they still include the generic melodies which makes it the pop song everyone loves.
Waka Waka // Shakira
With the popularity of football and Shakira’s hips, it seems only necessary to find this here; team it up with catchy dance moves then you have a music video with over 800 million views. The happy faces are infectious and we gain hope for England to win the World Cup again, but of course that’s a far out dream that only comes crashing down.
On The Floor // Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull
Could it be due to girls basically naked and J-Lo in an extremely tight catsuit? Probably. The small touch of exotic adds to the otherwise middle-of-the-road song, though it is very easy to like (especially relative to PSY and Miley Cyrus). Everything seems to be gold plated, including the girls and Jennifer Lopez’s voice shines with authority. This party track could be heard everywhere in 2011 and is still resonating today.
Love The Way You Lie // Eminem ft. Rihanna
If you don’t know the entire rap to this then you are no longer cool. When including Eminem, Rihanna and Megan Fox in a music video it’s guaranteed to get at least a few million views. The honesty and sheer brutality of Rihanna sharing (maybe too much?) of her personal life and history of an abusive relationship can be seen on screen as Fox becomes the victim of domestic violence. The lyrics themselves are ever so catchy, so much so, you could probably ask any teenager and they will be able to recite at least the chorus.
Party Rock Anthem // LMFAO
The Party Rock Anthem was sadly rather contagious as everywhere, everyone was shuffling and wearing all the T-shirts. They present themselves as the biggest party duo out there with their techno hip-hop rhythms. They brought in influences from Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and the movie ’28 Days Later’, plus created the now-famous dance move of shuffling. It seems like a catchy sequence for everyone to copy is the key to gaining millions of views (especially when skimpy outfits are involved).
Dark Horse // Katy Perry
She’s back, with yet another over the top music video and excessive make up. You have to question how much this production will have cost. The stunning outfits alone seem priceless but the amount of CGI for only four minutes seems rather silly, but that’s what Katy Perry is about after all! The video is completely crazy and out there which could be the main reason for the success but like most of the other songs on this list, the track is unashamedly conventional.
Baby // Justin Bieber ft Ludacris
Don’t you just want to scream when you hear this? Over 4 million people do, beating records of most disliked video on youtube. The pre-puberty Bieber had a squeaky voice but still the giant ego we see today. There’s nothing special at all about this video apart from the stupid amount of views it has for what it’s worth; the only explanation can be the sea of ‘Beliebers’ that watched this song on repeat, dreaming about his face. This was the birth of JB and where we lost hope in society.
Gangnam Style // PSY
Breaking YouTube records, this sex ridden, brightly coloured video is the epitome of the internet; although it is strangely addictive – we can all vouch for watching it at least once. It was ‘Gangnam Style’ that prompted the site to update its software to cope with such large numbers after it overtook Justin Bieber in November 2012. Everyone from David Cameron and Barack Obama to the chairman of Google was caught dancing along and it was quoted “force for world peace” by the UN Secretary. This wave of admiration also drove quite a few of us crazy as wherever you went there was no escaping the wrath of PSY and all the people he had hypnotised.
Words by Ella