Rap-Up.com || Rap-Up’s 10 Best Music Videos of 2009

The Rap-Up.com staff has spent the last week scouring YouTube, rewatching videos from the past year. We whittled it down to 10 of our favorites that were released between January 1, 2009 and December 29, 2009. Our selections include an O.G. and a rap newcomer, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, and a pop star who wowed us twice over with her visual masterpieces. Here are our picks in no particular order. Feel free to share your favorites.

Snoop Dogg f/ The-Dream – “Gangsta Luv” (Director: Paul Hunter)

Major Lazer f/ Nina Sky & Ricky Blaze – “Keep It Goin’ Louder” (Director: Eric Wareheim)

Raekwon – “House of Flying Daggers” (Directors: Erick Sasso & Brian Wendelken)

Lady Gaga – “Paparazzi” (Director: Jonas Akerlund)

Keri Hilson f/ Kanye West & Ne-Yo – “Knock You Down” (Director: Chris Robinson)

Jay-Z f/ Kanye West & Rihanna – “Run This Town” (Director: Anthony Mandler)

Ciara f/ Missy Elliott – “Work” (Director: Melina)

Rihanna f/ Young Jeezy – “Hard” (Director: Melina)

Kid Cudi – “Day ‘N’ Nite” (Director: So Me)

Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance” (Director: Francis Lawrence)

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63 Comments

Camila
December 29th, 2009 at 5:08 am
I can transform ya – CHRIS BROWN
The best video of 2009!!!!

[Reply]
Cameo Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 8:31 am
@Camila, No no not at all. Not even close. Its trash just like him.

[Reply]
untitled Reply:
December 30th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
@Cameo, hes not trash people make mistakes its just stupid people like u cant get over it

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Miguel Moya Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
@untitled, YES! Complete Agree with you.

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jae
December 29th, 2009 at 5:21 am
“Obsessed” by Mariah. Come on, it was classic. Oh well.

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Adwiin
December 29th, 2009 at 5:25 am
LOl what a joke of a list, you do realize all these videos just recently dropped in the 2nd half of the year, what about T-Pain’s Can’t Believe It tht was hella creative.

[Reply]
javonscott Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 9:17 am
@Adwiin, creative ? HA! -Thats just like yu saying “Sweet Dreams” was creative. green screen is not creative. it’s cheap.

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ryann Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 11:12 am
@Adwiin, hey idiot, t-pain’s video came out last year. this is a list from this year. and not all the videos are from the 2nd half of the year. check a calendar.

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Maravish95 Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
@Adwiin, iagree with Adwiin there like 100000000 videos out there that released on 2009 and you just put the recent ones, thats would be title Top 10 Videos Middle Of 2009 ! lol well i don’t like this list but the video Hard !

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mark
December 29th, 2009 at 5:30 am
ya obsessed shoulda been on the list

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test123
December 29th, 2009 at 5:56 am
this list just shows how close-minded you guys are. just as Tricky Stewart’s own Top 10 album list too. the indie industry is full of mad creative shit that outshines half of those songs/videos here easily. can’t really take ya’ll that serious. One thing I can say fo’ sure in 2010 is, that the indies gonna get even bigger and the majors continue to shrink. so ya’ll better pay more attention…thank you

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LOL Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 6:02 am
@test123, HUSH PLEASE

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Dave Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 6:25 am
@test123, Well everyone doesn’t like Indie music, so you need to stop. I like India music myself, but it’s not right to say it outshines the stuff here. People work hard for their music & vids, so just because it’s not the same quality as indie music doesn’t mean it’s not as good. And this is their list, let them have their opinion.

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ryann Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 11:13 am
@test123, if you are so enlightened, please tell us the best indie videos of the year. you make comments, but don’t have anything to back them up with. idiot.

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LOL
December 29th, 2009 at 6:01 am
NO WAY PEDRO!

SPIKE LEE MJ THIS IS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FIX THIS UP NOW!!!

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weloveciara
December 29th, 2009 at 7:22 am
uhm “work” is atleast top 2. and beyonce should be somewhere on this list

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TEAMCICI
December 29th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Yaaaaassssss!!!! WORK!!! Ciara did that video and slapped her haters faces haha

Love,Sex,Magic was the Sexiest vid of the year

and I Can Transform Ya- CB killed it!

[Reply]
tdkk
December 29th, 2009 at 7:46 am
I like there choices for top 10, it’s hard to look back at a year’s worth of music and videos to choose, it’s all opinion based but for the most part this is very close to my own personal top 10 favs.

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100% Nikehead
December 29th, 2009 at 8:02 am
LMAO at the The major lazor video, its so damn creative. The special effects are crazyyyyy ive never seen a video like that. Wow! I wonder what the budget for that video was!

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Cameo
December 29th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I agree with just about all of these… However I think that Snoops video was absolute garbage same with Raekwon’s… Russian Roulette should be up there… same with Single Ladies… Sweet Dreams… Heard em All (Amerie)… Waking up in Vegas, or If You Seek Amy… My top ten would be

Hard, Bad Romance, Paparazzi, Russian Roulette, Run This Town, Empire State of Mind, Knock You Down, Heard Em All, Single Ladies, and Waking up in Vegas. :) :)

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javonscott
December 29th, 2009 at 9:17 am
But i’m happy “Work” by Ciara was on there!

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VaunTV
December 29th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Russian Roulette should be on her too lol

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Giselle
December 29th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Mine are as follows:

Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Keri Hilson – Knock You Down
Lady Gaga – Paparazzi
Jay-Z – Run This Town
Mariah – Obsessed
Kanye – Heartless
Eminem – Beautiful
Rihanna – Hard
Kid Cudi – Day n Nite
Shakira – She Wolf

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Kaye
December 29th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Work was very creative . props to Melina and Ciara

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Tristen
December 29th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I’m glad Work made the list, the best dance video of the year.

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DrissyBaby
December 29th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I can Transform Ya had to be there
Visually it was crazy

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Joey
December 29th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Where are Rihanna – Russian Roulette, Amerie – Heard Em All, Robin Thicke – Sex Therapy, Beyonce – Single Ladies, Electrik Red – Friend Lover, Jazmine Sullivan – Lions, Tigers & Bears and Melanie Fiona – It Kills Me?

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Taylor Payne
December 29th, 2009 at 10:29 am
“Work” shoulda been number one but im glad it atleast made the top 10. I mean this song wasnt even released in the US and its making charts. U better Work Ci :)

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Millis
December 29th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Melina is really a great video director. she’s so creative. wow. She’s even better than Hype Williams.

Work & Hard are the videos of the year.

Also i like Kanye’s Heartless video. very creative.

Jay-Z’S D.O.A was very good too.

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An0thrDream
December 29th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Rap-Up , Your guyses judgement is perfect, these songs/vids were the most entertaining!

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carlos
December 29th, 2009 at 10:58 am
yeaa! now thats wats up of course cira “work” should be #1 its the hottest dance video too hot!!! love u cici and the list forgot about love sex magic by ciara which was sizzling hot and shakira’s she wolf and give it up to me. and yea obssessed should have been up there too! glad none of beyonce videos were there lol. and about chris brown yea ican transform ya was a good video but in my opinion CIARAAAAA dominates! :)

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BEYONCE+RIHANNA=HOT Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
@carlos, LADY GAGA BAD ROMANCE IS 1 AND SHOULD’VE BEEN NUMBER ONE

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CJ
December 29th, 2009 at 11:16 am
ppl saying work should have been number 1 but it says this list is in no particular order.
that was a good video anyway, melina is a great director. lady gaga videos are always wierd but very entertaining

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twitter.com/AmarJ
December 29th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Definitely Mariah Carey Obsessed.

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Shox
December 29th, 2009 at 11:45 am
OO COMEE OON !!
no CB there ?
where’s Joseph Kahn’s I can transform ya ???? WOOOO i’m shocked…

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100% Nikehead
December 29th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Yeah chris browns i can transform ya or even crawl should be in this list. Joseph Kahn is an incredible director. i like almost every video he has done.

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Crystal
December 29th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
why is it so hard for people to read before commenting? it says the list is in NO PARTICULAR ORDER. and rap-up is entitled to their opinion. of course everyone won’t agree.

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UR MUM'S HUSBAND
December 29th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
THIS IS TOTALLY BIASED!

WHAT HAPPENED TO “FED UP”, “I CAN TRANSFORM YA”

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tae
December 29th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
yeah that work video is sumthing serious gotta love ciara’s talent….and read what the blog says it CLEARLY SAY’S NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

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EveryYearIsCiaras
December 29th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Go CiCi… you deserve it, you gone take over 2010.
Although, you should have released “Work” in Us, it would have prob made #1, #2, or #3 in US, and would have been a hit worldwide if it had more promo

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M.GEEZ
December 29th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
YESSSSSS…..CIARA WORK DEF IS THE BEST VIDEO ALONG WITH LOVE,SEX,AND MAGIC….RAP-UP THAT LIST IS GOOD…AS LONG AS CIARA MADE IT CAUSE SHE’S ALWAYS CONSISTENLY CREATIVE MORE THEN ALOT OF THE PEOPLE THAT MADE IT AND SHE DESERED IT….MY TOP TEN VIDEOS ARE EVERYONE…..CIARA LOVE,SEX,AND MAGIC,LADY GAGA BAD ROMANCE,AMERIE MORE THAN LOVE,JANET JACKSON MAKE ME,KANYE WEST PARANOID,LA ROUX BULLET PROOF,CIARA WORK,RIHANNA HARD,CIARA NEVER EVER, AND BRITTANY SPEARS 3….THEY WERE ALL AWESOME…THE ARTIST THAT DIDNT MAKE IT SORRY…TRY AGAIN NEXT YEAR…AND CIARA WILL BE BACK SO TRY HARDER….PEACE!!

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nonamer
December 29th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
All of the videos are pretty funky and creative!
BUT,
What the hell is Rihanna “hard” doing on the list? SOoo rolling in mud and holding a gun is considered creative? Ok.

[Reply]
Dakota Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 1:21 am
@nonamer, It is if you think about it. Combining military, which is usually thought of as gory, dark, horrible, and turning it into sexy and fashionable stuff is petty creative. The fashion was insane, for Rihanna she looked GREAT, Melina used all the right lighting and angles, and plus, it just fit perfectly with the song. It was tough, but sexy, and what better way to show off an awesome song and to all the haters out there then by having a creative, original, hot video? The effects were nice too, explosions to match the piano plops, camera shaking to go with some of the instumentation, it was a very well-done and thought out video. And, for once, Rihanna didn’t look awkward or anything. Melina Matsoukas is one amazing director. To think that she can come up with all the stuff off of the top of her is really amazing.

[Reply]
Billy
December 29th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I can’t believe so many people are suggesting that “Obsessed” should have made the list. That video was panned as a complete disappointment! It was terrible!

Also, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” came out at the end of 2008. I’m pretty sure it was on last year’s list.

In general, I agree with the majority of these vids, and I give props to Rap-Up for including some lesser known ones like that Major Lazer vid that is mad creative. My personal #1 goes to Ciara & Melina!

[Reply]
SouthSideKing
December 29th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Where the hell is “Do You Think About Me” – 50 Cent?!!??!!
or “Baby By Me” or “Ok, You’re Right”?! crappy list!!
here is the real list:
-Do You Think About Me – 50 Cent
-Baby By Me – 50 Cent Feat. Ne-Yo
-Ok, You’re Right – 50 Cent
-We Made You – Eminem
-Beautiful – Eminem
-3 A.M. – Eminem
-Gangsta Luv – Snoop Dogg Feat. The-Dream
-Pronto – Snoop Dogg Feat. Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em
-Mujeres In The Club – Wisin & Yandel Feat. 50 Cent
-Roc The Mic – Bow Wow Feat. Jermaine Dupri
-Respect My Conglomerate – Busta Rhymes Feat. Lil Wayne & Jadakiss
-Hustler’s Anthem ’09 – Busta Rhymes – Feat. T-Pain

[Reply]
Jordan Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
@SouthSideKing, u do realize ur list includes every video released by 50 cent and eminem this year… your judgement is clouded. just because ur a stan, doesn’t make the videos great.

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J-Wellz
December 29th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
IM SO HAPPY DAT CIARA “WORK” IS FINALLY GETTIN THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT IT WAS A STANDOUT.THA VIDEO ALSO SHOWED DA HATERS DAT CIARA STILL HAD DA DANCING ON LOCK & DAT NO ONE WAS TAKING IT AWAY.ALSO I THINK RIHANNA “RUSSIAN ROULETTE” SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THERE 2.THE VIDEO IS KINDA LIKE A MINI MOVIE 2 ME.AND IT SHOWS HER ACTING SKILLS.UMMM……OH YEA CHRIS BROWN “I CAN TRANSFORM YA” DAT VIDEO WAS VERY DIFFERENT & FUTURISTIC.AND DA DANCES WAS STUPID

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MICKI
December 29th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Rihanna hard?
That video was not creative at all! Rihanna prancing around with micky mouse ears. AHH BALONEY.

[Reply]
Dakota Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 1:28 am
@MICKI, Read my previous reply above. It actually was, and fit the song perfectly and has helped it go up the billboard charts already. You just aren’t considering all the thought put into it. Rihanna looked hot, it had all the right fashion and visuals, fit the song perrfectly, she didn’t appear awkward at all *since she usually kind of does becuase she can’t dance or anything* was different than anything out there right now and way new for Rihanna, and the effects, like the explosions, fit the music *like the piano* PERFECTLY. It was brilliantly thought out and shot and edited, and if you are going to let a closed and/or biased mind shut you down on appreciating something, then that’s just sad. They did everything perfectly with the song, and nothing else would have fit it*it’s not like the song had this whole universal lyrics or story to where it could have multiple different video concepts that’d work*, or the sexy/sexual fashion icon Rihanna more. :P

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NYC BOI
December 29th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
WORK WORK WORK!!!! LOL THAT VIDEO WAS WAT U CALL!!! FIRE!!! CIARA WAS WORKIN’ THAT ISH LIKE NO OTHER!!!! LOVE SEX MAGIC DEFF SHOULDA MADE DA LIST TO DOE!! BUT EITHER WAY WORK WAS A BETTER VID TO ME DANCIN’ WISE!! I EFFIN LUV WORK!!!!! THAT DANCIN WAS CRAZY AS ISH!!!!!! WORK CIARA!!!!! HATERS KEEP HATING ON THE QUEEN WHO IS CIARA!!!

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Catie
December 29th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I agree with some on that list but my top ten would go something like this..

Keri Hilson – “Knock You Down”
Britney Spears – “3″
Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
Eminem – “Beautiful”
Amerie – “Why R U”
Kid Cudi – Day ‘N’ Nite
Jay-Z – “Run This Town”
Britney Spears – “If U Seek Amy”
Beyonce – “Video Phone”
Jay-Z – “Empire State of Mind”

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Alegal
December 29th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Where is Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway????????

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An0thrDream
December 29th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
My List would’ve included

Ciara – Love Sex Magic and or work
Beyonce – Sweet Dreams
Rihanna – Hard and or russian roulette
Black Eyed Peas – meet me halfway
Jay Z – Run this town
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Katy Perry – Waking up in Vegas
Britney Spears – If you seek amy
Taylor Swift – you belong with me

[Reply]
Rap*
December 30th, 2009 at 4:47 am
knock u down???? i wouldnt consider that at all

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P!eter
December 30th, 2009 at 5:00 am
I agree with the list, and sorry but single ladies is a clip from 2008, not 2009, so that’s why, but what about Video Phone, that’s one hot ‘n sexy clip

[Reply]
carlos
December 30th, 2009 at 9:20 am
WORK!!!! CIARA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEST OF THE BEST!!

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Marshall
December 30th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Eminem!!!
He is also missing in the album top ten.

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Mike
December 30th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Mariah’s OBSESSED number 1 video of 2009!

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parisian girl
December 30th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
“gangsta luv”didn’t deserve to be on this list,i love this song but the video was a huge disappointment
“run this town”is not that good either
the rest is good especially HARD,BAD ROMANCE and WORK!

[Reply]
Me
December 30th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Timbaland – Morning After Dark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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jenn
January 1st, 2010 at 12:46 am
single ladies is from 2008 but was a hit through 2009.

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Meli
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:58 am
Interesting…… Good to know nakedness is what’s described as BEST VIDEOS. 90% of the selctions Beautiful! Nice to know how we view what’s a good video and what’s not but the less clothing the more it will be in BEST! Mmmmm……….

[Reply]
golong
January 4th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
my topd would had been this, in no order

Run This Town – Too Many Antoney Mandler/Rihanna Collabos, But His Best
Hard – SEXY ASS HELL
Work – Love The COnstrction Worker Theme
Paparazzi – Weird But Cool
Russian ROulette – Very Ciemamatic
Day N Nite (Original Version) – Weird But Cool
Wait Your Turn – I Really Dont Kno I Love The Song!
Meet Me HalfWay – Cool Space Theme
Best I Ever Had – LOVE THE BOUNCING BOOBS!
Video Phone (Extended Remix) – WOW, JUST WOW
Boom Boom Pow – Sooooo 3008!

[Reply]