Take a look inside your heart. Is there any room for me?

This is how 22-year-old indie pop star, Pink Pantheress begins her hit song “Boy’s a Liar Pt.2” Featuring Ice Spice, the song has taken social media by storm, amassing over 106 million views. In the background of the 2023 music video where the two stars sing and dance in various spots around New York, singer songwriter Ice Spice can be seen sporting an all white outfit and her recognizable curly orange hair.

“Boy’s a Liar Pt.2” spurred a TikTok trend in which fans perform Ice Spice’s signature dance moves. Music videos having a large impact in pop culture is not a new phenomenon. From the first music video that premiered on MTV, “Video Killed the Radio Star,” to videos like “Boy’s a Liar Pt.2,” music videos prove to be a way to engage and expand an artist’s audience.

“A lot of people see music videos through YouTube and that can give a different audience to a song,” junior Brody Rice said.

The arrival of music videos provided listeners with a new experience to enjoy their favorite artists. With new technology premiering in the 80s, artists were able to enhance their music visually and give the viewers a sense of their personalities.

“We get to see who the artist is for the first time,” video production teacher Mr. Corpuz said. “It’s another form of expression for the artist, so it was honestly just an extension of the song”

Songs can be interpreted in many different ways, but music videos provide insight into the artist’s original intent when making the song.

“I like when from start to finish you feel like you have a new perspective on the song and music videos can provide insight into what the artist might’ve meant when they wrote it,” junior Ella Bishop said.

Music videos are not the only medium in which songs provide an extension of the story being told. TV shows and movies often intertwine music with the script and story to amplify the production.

“If you just think of Stranger Things, you can’t have that show without music, for example take Kate Bush’s song,” Corpuz said. “She already had a music video and then here’s Stranger Things storytelling that really gives it a new life.”

These days music videos mostly allow an artist to connect to their fanbase and provide a new feel to their favorite songs.

“I think today’s music videos are very geared towards the fans and it gets us closer to the artist,” Corpuz said.

Nowadays, listeners around the world can tune into the live video premiere of their favorite songs.

“You’re just refreshing the page, seeing comments coming in from people all over the world in real-time,” Bishop said. “Knowing so many other people are watching it with you and seeing it for the first time, it’s such a crazy feeling”

While music videos continue to be an integral part of the music industry, they have strayed from the storytelling aspect and now focus more on an appealing performance, where the artist may sing or dance in front of the camera.

“I think the difference now is that the performance is mixed in with the narrative,” Corpuz said. “So there’s a lot of that performance and less, I would say, storytelling, and I think that’s where this art medium is going.”

Art by Sabela Chelba