11 Music Videos That Will Make You Feel High AF
Who needs drugs when YouTube exists?
1. The Chemical Brothers, "Let Forever Be"
Year: 1999
Director: Michel Gondry
Trippiest moment: When the kaleidoscope comes to life at 1:52.
Between the crazy camera work, complicated DIY sets, and not-quite-identical body doubles, there’s enough going on in this video to trip-out even the most sober viewer.
2. Childish Gambino, "Sweatpants (ft. Problem)"
Year: 2014
Director: Hiro Murai
Trippiest moment: When Donald Glover sees two of his doppelgängers making out at 2:02.
Part Goundhog Day, part Invasion Of The Body Snatches, this clip is like one of those slow, creeping highs — surprisingly intense.
3. Cibo Matto, "Sugar Water"
Year: 1996
Director: Michel Gondry
Trippiest moment: Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori finally cross paths at 1:52.
This intricate, split-screen video is a visual palindrome; almost nothing about the viewing experience would change if you watched it in reverse. If that doesn’t get you at least a little buzzed, I don’t know what will.
4. Blockhead, "The Music Scene"
Year: 2010
Director: Anthony F. Schepperd
Trippiest moment: When the evil screen starts melting nature into technicolor ribbons at 1:08.
An abstract fable about the dangers of technology, “The Music Scene” video aims to expand the viewer’s consciousness through trippy, technicolored imagery.
5. Drake, "Energy"
Year: 2015
Director: Fleur & Manu
Trippiest moment: The animated Drake barbie doll at 1:44.
You're not being paranoid — everyone in this video has the Six God's face.
6. FKA twigs, "Glass & Patron"
Year: 2015
Director: FKA twigs
Trippiest moment: When twigs starts giving birth to scarves at 0:55.
A mesmerizing surreal video, "Glass & Patron" features a massively pregnant twigs giving birth to herself, some dancers, and a series of scarves, before voguing on a private stage in the middle of the woods.
7. Tame Impala, "Mind Mischief"
Year: 2013
Director: David Wilson
Trippiest moment: The car drifting through space at 3:22.
To paraphrase comedian Chris Gethard’s bit about molly: for about 35 minutes nothing happens and then, suddenly, everything happens.
8. M83, "Wait"
Year: 2012
Director: Fleur & Manu
Trippiest moment: The creation montage at 4:07.
The Fleur & Manu-directed clip is a hallucinatory genesis story about a young boy-slash-triangle who jets through space and maybe brings organic matter into existence? It's unclear, but what the video lacks in narrative clarity it makes up for in dreamlike visuals.
9. Björk, "Lionsong"
Year: 2015
Director: Björk and Inez & Vinoodh
Trippiest moment: When everything starts happening all at once at 3:28.
You know that moment when you look at your friend and suddenly they look like a sparkly dandelion? No? Well, you will after you watch this phantasmic video.
10. A$AP Rocky, "L$D (LOVE x $EX x DREAMS)"
Year: 2015
Director: Dexter Navy
Trippiest moment: When A$AP Rocky stares at the sparkly chandelier at 2:26.
Fortunately for A$AP Rocky, the music video for "L$D" lives up to its title. Directed by Dexter Navy, the clip is five straight minutes of slurry, saturated visuals that closely approximate the feeling of being high AF.
11. Air, "Sing Sang Sung"
Year: 2009
Director: Petra Mrkyz & François Moriceau
Trippiest moment: The rainbow loop-the-loop at 2:33.
This beginners-friendly clip is a pleasant, pastel-colored trip through a shapeshifting dreamscape. Nothing ominous or threatening here, just a jaunty little black ball and some genuinely mind-bending animation.
