Feministing Jamz: Best feminist music videos of 2015

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I’m part of the war on Christmas, obviously, so I’m clearly referring to our annual Best Feminist Music Videos of the year. This year’s list is off the charts y’all! Let’s get right to it. In no particular order:

Nire ft. Maluca & Nani Castle – Commie Mommie

Y’all, this video! It’s 100% revolutionary women amazingness! We start out strong by flipping off the po, and only gets better from there. Producer Nire brings on jamz fave Maluca and the excellent Nani Castle to talk revolution and wealth redistribution, dance at Zucotti Park (AKA the site of Occupy Wall Street), shade the fuckboys who aren’t here for their politics, and cavort with a very adorable child. WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE?!

Kali Uchis – Loner

2015 was the year all the hard work that Kali Uchis has been putting in for the last few years paid off. This Colombiana is taking off, and deservedly so. In this song Kali Uchis channels what my mami always used to say to me: mejor sola que mal acompañada. She doesn’t wanna be anyone’s doormat, nope — she’d much rather be alone, drinking milkshakes and dancing as part of a pink neon dream in her BEAT IT CREEP crop top. Go ahead, ma.

M.I.A. – Borders

M.I.A. is not trying to be subtle with this one. She’s always talked about how her experience as a refugee weighs heavily in her art, and it truly comes to a head in this video — which comes at a time when the entire world is dealing with the Syrian migrant crisis, and reacting in racist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic ways. She questions the very ideas and violence of borders, not telling us what to think, but just asking us: what’s up with that?

Junglepussy – Me

Junglepussy has had a great year, including releasing her amazing Pregnant With Success and a number of excellent videos, but this one stood out. Our girl is reading Maya Angelou, thanking all the amazing women who have influenced her, challenging the scarcity mentality, and chatting it up with Oprah. “What’s a girl to do when the world’s against you? Throw it in they face, let ‘em know you meant to.” YES. Shoutout JP’s longtime homie and collaborator Dai Burger, an old Jamz fave who makes an appearance in this video and just released her fab new EP a couple weeks ago.

Destiny Frasqueri – Soul Train

This year Destiny Frasqueri ditched her Princess Nokia moniker and futuristic rhymes for something a little more old-school, but no one’s complaining. This video is 100% black and brown summer block party, complete with salsa dancing in the streets and revolutionary ladies. About this video, Frasqueri says: “To me, this is a video of Black revolution. In a time of racism, it’s for the Black and Latino communities in America, and it was created to honor the lifestyles that cultivated our culture and the positive and artistic outlets that healed us in hard times.”

Miss Bolivia ft. Rebeca Lane & Ali Gua Gua – Libre Atrevida y Loca

Afro-Argentina Miss Bolivia brings her friends Rebecca Lane and Ali Gua Gua (of Kumbia Queers fame) for a video that is all transnational global south feminism. Featuring femmes of all sorts of gender expressions and filmed in Argentina, Guatemala, and Mexico (where Miss Bolivia, Lane, and Ali Gua Gua are from, respectively) these badasses want you to know that their mouths are sharp and that it’s nobodies’ business how they dance or dress or speak or who they fuck. They’re brujas, malvadas, cabronas, armadas, de lírica explosiva y música pesada, so don’t get it twisted, and they want the law out from between their legs. Sign. Me. Up.

Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé – Feeling Myself

I mean, obviously right? These two women are the bosses of their game, and they’re subverting any expectation of competition or cattiness by joining forces, toasting with cheeseburgers, looking fly in kiddie pools, and blowing our collective minds.

Missy Elliott – WTF (Where They From)

Missy’s return is everything. In true Missy style, she brings us a video that is a combination of classic, futuristic, and completely of the moment. She’s maybe throwing a little deserved shade, but really she’s just not that pressed. She’s busy talking about how gorgeous she is in her big lips and big hips, feeling and looking fly in her skin and knowing that everyone — from nail salon workers to girls on the street to dudes stuck in traffic — is enjoying her comeback. Welcome back, Missy!!!

FKA twigs – M3LL15X

It’s probably some sort of cool music blogger rule to not include the same artist in your Best Of list three years in a row, but FKA twigs leaves a girl no choice. She consistently kills it, and does so while in complete control of every aspect of her craft — no easy feat for a young woman of color early in her career. This video project is inspired by femininity, and makes powerful political statements around the power of transgressive femininities, the meaning of becoming a sex symbol in the public eye, and moving beyond normative beauty and toward magnificence.

Blood Orange – Sandra’s Smile

Producer, artist, and queer icon Dev Hynes reckons with how haunting the near constant images of Black murder and pain are in this song dedicated to Sandra Bland. The video pairs somber and reflective lyrics with images of Black unity and joy — resistance.

What were your faves this year?