Best Genius Verified Videos

As I explained in one of my previous articles, "Content to watch on YouTube if you love music." Genius has a YouTube channel with various series about artists and the process it takes to make their music. One of these series is called Genius Verified in which artists come and explain their song lyrics. The series invites all artists at various stages of their music careers. From upcoming singers like Clairo, Kiana Lede, and Trinidad Cordona to Grammy winning artist such as Jay Rock, Anderson Paak, and Daniel Caesar, the series gives all artists the platform to express how they came up with their lyrics. As someone who wants to become a songwriter, this series is extremely impressive to me, and I love it. Now as much as I would love to binge every single video, some videos are unnecessary, because there isn’t any symbolism behind wanting to go to the jeweler. Unless, I don’t know, you’re somehow talking about how the jewels are a representation of your frozen tears or cold heart. Moreover not every one of these genius videos is perfect, so there are only a good amount that I enjoyed, and feel the need to share with you.

Anderson Paak is a Grammy winning rapper from California. I love this video of him explaining "Bubblin," because he has such amazing energy that goes with his captivating smile. This song actually won him “Best Rap performance,” at the 2018 Grammys. Technically it was a tie between him and Jay Rock’s song "King’s Dead," but he still took home a grammy.

For those of you who don’t know Jacquees is an R&B artist who recently deemed himself the king of R&B, but we'll talk about that later. His commentary isn’t that great, but his raw unedited vocals blew me away. He proved he can sing beautifully without any help from auto tune.

Smino is one of my favorite artists to listen to, and he has a perfect balance of rapping and singing. He’s from Chicago and I was first introduced to him via another one of my favorite artists, Noname. I love this video because I love the song and the fact that he dedicated it to black women. I pretty much already knew what it meant but as he explained the lyrics it made the picture even more clear.

Pnb Rock like Jacquees also proves he can definitely hold a tune in this video. I liked this video because it wasn’t what I expected, and he actually has some decent explanations in the song. Like the other videos I listed he is explaining a beautiful song, and I wish he still made music exactly like this.

SZA the amazing R&B singer stole my heart in this video. I do wish she would’ve sung instead of just reading the lyrics, but you can’t have it all. This video also made me understand her and the song, which features Travis Scott a bit more.

Queen Naija has such a beautiful voice, but what I really loved about this video is her vulnerability. I guess this ability to be so open comes from her being a blogger, and sharing her life with subscribers 24/7. She really went into detail about her relationship, and didn’t just give the vague one line answer. This video to me is probably the best way to get to really know her next to watching her interviews.

For anyone who doesn’t know JID you absolutely should. He’s a rapper on J Cole’s label Dreamville and he has amazing talent when it comes to rapping and lyricism. This video, if I’m correct, was my introduction to him, and thus made me check out the song "Never," and eventually his album The Never Story. If it wasn’t for genius’s Verified playlist, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to listen to this amazing artist.

Like JID’s video this was my introduction to Earthgang who are also on J Cole’s label. I first listened to the song because JID is featured on it, and it came up in my recommendations. I liked the song, but when I watched the video I really got the deeper meaning of the song that talks about the struggle of being black in America. Next to watching this video, I recommend you watch the music video for this song. I also would’ve loved this video if JID was in it, but like I said before, you can’t have it all.

Stefflon Don is a British rapper and singer with an amazing voice. At first I knew her from being a rapper on the XXL freshmen list, but this video showed me another beautiful side of the artist. This side being her vulnerable side where she explains her relationship troubles. She also just has an amazing personality that glows through the screen.

This video and song made me remember how much I loved Alessia Cara when she came out with her hit song “Here.” I love that her inspiration came from her family members, and this video made me love this song even more, and that’s what I think the point of these videos are.

Due to the way the thumbnail looks, I actually pressed on this video expecting to hear a girl sing, but boy was I surprised when I realized Trinidad Cordona is a boy with a good set of curls, that he recently shaved off. Aside from being disappointed that he cut his luscious curls, he has an amazing voice, and the song “Jennifer,” is truly beautiful, and so was his explanation.

Pop or alternative sensation Billie Eilish has mind blowing vocals, and she doesn’t hold them back in this video. Next to her extreme amount of talent, she also says some pretty relatable things in this video regarding how she sees herself. I love how she doesn’t hold back or censor her real feelings.

Before watching this video I was already a fan of Saba because he is from Chicago, and frequently collaborates with Smino and Noname. This video I connected with a lot of what he was saying, and I definitely recommend this video to anyone.

There’s no words to describe Daniel Caesar’s smooth vocals, and that’s very hard for me, because I’m a writer. The only thing that would make this video more fulfilling would be if Kali Uchis, who is featured on the song explained her verse. To anyone reading this, I do recommend you check out Daniel’s new album Case Study 01.

Lastly at number one is Miguel, he’s one of my favorite artists, and I’ve been a fan since he performed “Adorn,” at the Grammys. Miguel like most of the artists on this list has a breathtaking voice, but he also has a certain charm about him that makes you not want to turn away from him. This video was the first genius Verified video that I watched, and is the reason I’m writing this article right now.

Overall

Thank you for reading and I hope if you start watching these videos you love them as much as I do.