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Top 10 Controversial Music Videos

Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll have always been a potent combination. Add a pinch of violence and a dash of profanity and you've got the perfect recipe for controversy -- especially when filmed. Music videos have always been a great way for musicians to get people talking.

Just ask M.I.A. -- whose 'Born Free,' depicting a brutal genocide against the ginger-haired, was banned from YouTube -- or Erykah Badu, who will be charged with disorderly conduct after stripping naked and feigning being shot on the Dallas, Tex street where JFK was assasinated for her video 'Window Seat.'

Here's our list of 10 of the most controversial -- and totally NSFW -- music videos:


10. Marilyn Manson, '(S)aint'
If there's one artist in the MTV era whose image has caused the most consternation amongst parents associations, it's the man formerly known as Brian Warner. In 'Coma White,' Marilyn Manson hung on a cross, in 'Tainted Love' he played with plushies and in 'The Dope Show,' he sported boobs. But '(S)aint' tops 'em all with bondage, drug use, cutting and all sorts of indecorous behaviour.



9. Britney Spears, '...Baby One More Time'
If this video was released now, it's doubtful anyone would bat an eye. But that's only because of how Britney Spears' '...Baby One More Time' changed what was acceptable in terms of sex appeal way back in 1998. This was that rare pop culture moment when an icon was born and a generation of Catholic schoolgirls rolled up their kilts.



8. MSTRKRFT, 'Easy Love'
As this MSTRKRFT video begins, a bevy of attractive women in suits are enjoying some milkshakes. It's not the first time that frozen dairy beverages have been used as a thinly-veiled representation of a certain sexual substance (hello, Kelis). The money shots come fast and furious so start chugging.



7. Nine Inch Nails, 'Closer'
If one was to compile the most inappropriate songs to play at a wedding, this one might just top the list. Lest we mention the video. The Mark Romanek-directed clip is mostly a compilation of disturbing imagery, including an unfortunate monkey tied to a cross. Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor's a big PETA supporter so one can only hope the monkey's sad little face was a CGI trick.



6. Duran Duran, 'Girls on Film'
The story goes that when Duran Duran made this sleazy mud wrestling-and-lingerie clip in July of 1981, they expected it to run exclusively at nightclubs ... and maybe the Playboy Channel. The video went through hefty edits just to see the light of day, and even then was banned by the BBC. But it also triggered a theme that has infiltrated music videos ever since: cute girls wearing very little and getting all touchy-feely with each other.



5. Justice, 'Stress'
A gang of young thugs wearing the Justice cross logo on their jackets roam around grimy Paris streets, vandalizing property, assaulting buskers and battering pretty much anybody who is unlucky enough to get in their way. The clip, directed by Gavrain Costas, caused outrage in France, particularly on the race front being that several of the hooligans are black.



4. Fiona Apple, 'Criminal'
It wasn't the first time that an up-and-coming singer removed a couple items of clothing and suddenly found herself in the media spotlight. But with this Mark Romanek-directed video, it wasn't just Fiona Apple's sexiness that critics objected to. She got called out for capitalizing on the "heroin chic" look that was so popular at the time. Apple responded to the flak by saying that "if I was going to be exploited, then I would do the exploiting myself."



3. Nas, 'Hate Me Now'
Many rappers have bemoaned their persecution through rhymes, but few have actually carried the cross on-screen. Nas does just that in this clip, with a crown of thorns and a crucifixion to boot. Sean Combs -- aka Diddy -- originally posed on the cross with Nas for the video, but after chatting with his pastor, however, Diddy requested that part be taken out. In the end, it wasn't and Diddy responded by battering Nas' manager with a champagne bottle.



2. Prodigy, 'Smack My Bitch Up'
It's no surprise that this video ends up on a lot of "most shocking" lists. The title alone was enough to set tongues a-wagging back in 1997, though the Prodigy claimed it referred to "doing anything intently. This Jonas Akerlund clip is a veritable laundry list of wickedness: assaulting women, rampant violence, cocaine use, drinking and driving ,shot from the point of view of the debaucherous protagonist with a subversive twist at the end.



1. Madonna, 'Like a Prayer'
When it comes to pushing buttons with music videos, nobody has more consistently raised the ire of the morality watchdogs than Madonna. But 'Like a Prayer' bundled three of America's biggest taboos in one clip: sex, religion and race. She may be writing children's books now but back in the day, the woman had stones.



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Erick Franco

Madonna had 4 videos banned from tv ,as they were wayyy to explicit for the audience justify my love,erotica,what it feels like for a girl and like a prayer were those videos that supposedly were raunchy,sexual,violent,religious sacrilegious,as well as sado-masochist among other things portrayed in them!

November 18 2012 at 10:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sue1mar3

Wow, that Duran Duran video was pretty tame by today's standards! Their video for "The Chauffeur" was worse but probably that was not a problem because it was never a popular song.

June 12 2011 at 7:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ted

Aphex Twins videos: "Window licker" and "Come to daddy"

June 16 2010 at 2:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mark

what about Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Two Videos from the eighties of course "Relax" then "Two Tribes"

May 22 2010 at 3:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
connected

Why do ya want to see them? spend ur time looking at all the beautiful things in the world not these nasty vids, I understand the curiousity factor but man there is enough nasty bad stuff out there without going out of your way to watch more. What you give your attention to grows, and no way do we need more negative bad stuff.

May 14 2010 at 5:13 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to connected's comment
Blake

Mind explaining what the **** is "beautiful" and what the **** is "nasty" by your black and white, retarded ******* standards. You're an imbecile and you should be shot for lack of intelligence.

November 21 2011 at 3:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ohserase

What about Madonna's 1990 "Justify My Love" video? It was banned on MTV, for nudity.
"Turn the Page" by Metallica, where the video depicts a prostitute being beaten by a John while her daughter watches. Saw it on VH-1 years back (Before they were all reality), and MuchMusic in Canada banned it.
Didn't Madonna just have another video banned about two years ago? Something about her and an old woman killing men? I think these videos should not be banned, let the ADULT public see it, but air very late at night, or air on a pay channel late at night, like HBO.

May 03 2010 at 9:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply