From the underground in the â80s to fashion runways in the 2000s to malls in 2010s to TikTok in 2020, goth aesthetic has been expanding and changing with the times. Due to its versatility and room for creative expression, the dark look and gloomy vibe have been a long-standing influence in many visual art forms, music videos included. Speaking of, check out these! Just donât forget to click mute for a full-on goth experience.
Read more: See what a Halloween Town visit in âNightmare Before Christmasâ looks like
Lil Peep â âGirlsâ (feat. Horse Head)
When it comes to labels, be it emo or goth, they canât be 100% applied to anything by Lil Peep. His music has little to do with the OG emo sound yet carries the feel of it. GothBoiClique videos donât really feature goth references except for âGirls,â directed by Ramez Silyan, the co-director of Everybodyâs Everything. Set in what looks like a hotel room, the video is centered around Lil Peep and Horse Head surrounded by a group of goth girls. Lil Peepâs earflap hat and striped yellow turtleneck, just like pink flamingos, manifest a childlike vulnerability in this dark world.
Poppy â âI Disagreeâ
No, even blending experimental pop with an alt-metal sound and embarking on a mission to âlet it all burn down,â Poppy doesnât let go of her polished perfectionist look. But we must agree that Poppy never looked more goth than she was in the âI Disagreeâ video. The silver-collared look with kimono sleeves sheâs wearing during the shockingly bright bridge is framed by two high-fashion dominatrix-futuristic-warrior outfits. This is the dark side of Poppy that was way more implicit in her âComputer Boyâ era.
Ashnikko â âSTUPIDâ (feat. Yung Baby Tate)
In both her music and videos, Ashnikko plays with many styles and makes contradictions work with her unique, weird twist. Starring Ashnikko and BFF-in-crime Yung Baby Tate, the TikTok sensationâs video takes you on a killing spree, bubble goth style. With some glittery gore, of course. By the end of the âSTUPIDâ video, the only part untouched by splashes of blood on Ashnikkoâs look is her signature blue hair tied in two playful ponytails and secured with baby blue-and-pink clips. Cute! And goth.
Taylor Swift â âLook What You Made Me Doâ
If you forget all about how this track from Taylor Swiftâs Reputation era was supposed to be shade thrown at some people in the entertainment industry, stop looking for Easter eggs and turn the sound off, you may see the video in a whole different light. Cemetery? Check. Leather, latex, chokers, spikes, fishnets, all-black outfits, dark eye makeup, dark lip, platform boots, all-around spooky vibe? Check. An honorable mention: security guards in the golden birdcage scene who look like a post-punk band from the future transported by a glitch in the matrix.
Post Malone â âGoodbyesâ (feat. Young Thug)
Weâre more than aware of Post Maloneâs affinity toward metal (the subgenre of goblin metal included) and how well he channeled Kurt Cobain in his Nirvana tribute with Travis Barker. But goth? Well, if youâre familiar with gothabilly, the fashion in this video with Young Thug most definitely hits the spot. Recommended song to play while watching âGoodbyesâ this time: âI Was A Teenage Werewolfâ by the Cramps. Now, you see?
Billie Eilish â âall the good girls go to hellâ
Yes, it would be amateur and reductive to define Billie Eilishâs style as goth (although some see it this way, but whatever). But hey, weâre not talking about her personal style here, only this particular video where sheâs starring as a literal fallen angel soaked in a pitch-black sticky substance. Walking out of the black puddle dragging her heavy wings, she looks like a bird affected by an oil spill. But then her wings catch fire and turn into bat wings, and we witness a nocturnal triumph of the she-devil. Or a baby bat? Maybe. But still pretty cool. And totally goth.
yeule â âPretty Bonesâ
Pastel. Pastel. More pastel. Instagram-worthy picture-perfect still lifes of pretty things, pearl-embellished fruits, flowers and artificial-looking foods. Is this your room, gothic Lolita? Nope. Pink ice cream melts as a tattooed hand puts out a cigarette into it, and it turns out that all the sweet stuff was there just to be smashed, crushed, stabbed, cut up and torn apart by yeule, a post-modern head-to-toe embodiment of all things J-goth. All the rest is left to rot, decompose and die. But itâs OK because it seems that death is something that makes her feel aliveâa paradox a real goth understands.
Raja â âMoodboredâ
Category is…goth eleganza extravaganza! Allow your wig to be snatched by at least 10 different glamorous, dramatic and over-the-top gothic looks. Oh, and here, you donât really have to turn the sound off to keep things goth. Just like the makeup, fashion and visuals, this EDM-y track is generously coated with multiple layers of darkness, be it the gloomy beat or spooky vocals by Raja, the ultimate fashion queen and the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 3.
scarlxrd â âHEART ATTACKâ
Cargo pants, face masks, goggles, chunky boots and tactical vests. These items, frequently sported by our favorite trap-metal lxrd, may sound familiar if youâve ever been into the cybergoth thing. However, the word youâre looking for now is actually techwearâa distant anime-ninja cousin of cybergoth from a dark and rainy yet functional future. Watching âHEART ATTACK,â you may start wondering: If scarlxrdâs music is what the future of metal sounds like, maybe this is what the future of goth looks like.
Zheani â âDIRTBIKEâ
Australian rapper Zheani knows how to create a spooky video, whether itâs the vaporwave fairy-tale fantasy âLIE AND LOOKâ or the demonic âMeaning áł Happiness.â In the video for her trap-metal track âDIRTBIKE,â she references casual goth, cybergoth, glam goth and the darkness in her looks, while the DIY green screen backgrounds go from white to blood red to grim shots of a burned-down forest.