8 Amazing Unreleased Music Videos That We Really Need To See
As a devoted Britney Spears fan, I spend a lot of my time thinking about the uncompleted "Outrageous" video from the In the Zone era. What was the plot? Why was Britney wearing a basketball jersey and sideways cap? Why was Snoop Dogg there? These thoughts haunt my dreams, I kid you not. It was shaping up to be an epic clip and then, bam, nothing. (Well, not nothing: BritBrit injured her leg on set, which is why she scrapped the project. But still! Meh.)
Britney isn't the only artist who didn't complete a video, much to fans' dismay. These eight singers failed to officially release their highly-anticipated clips. Parts of some of these videos managed to leak online, but that doesn't negate this hard fact: For some reason, the artist in question (or their team) didn't want the video to see the light of day. Let's explore this further, shall we?
Britney Spears, "Outrageous"
BritBrit began shooting her "Outrageous" video (alongside Snoop Dogg, of all people) in June 2004. But after hurting her knee on set, she scrapped the shoot and her Onyx Hotel Tour. Many fans—this writer included—believe Britney was never quite the same after this incident. All we have of the video are random clips of Britney playing basketball and then jumping into Snoop's arms. What was this?
Lady Gaga feat. R. Kelly, "Do What U Want"
Despite copious teasing in late 2013, Gaga never officially released "Do What U Want." Rumors swirled it was because her camp feared that, given R. Kelly's previous child pornography charges, the video's sexual nature would cause an uproar. Plus, video director Terry Richardson was knee-deep in sexual assault allegations from models—not exactly the best time to release a raunchy visual. TMZ leaked footage of the clip summer 2014, so at least we received a taste of it.
"Demonstrate," JoJo
JoJo filmed a video for "Demonstrate" in August 2012 but never released it due to issues with Blackground Records. (She later sued the record company and then signed with Atlantic.) On the unreleased clip, JoJo said, "I have no idea what [Blackground Records] plans to do with that video; I’m not in control of that...I’m pretty sure they owe some people some money on that actually."
"Put It in a Love Song," Alicia Keys feat. Beyoncé
Yes, there is an Alicia Keys and Beyoncé video floating out there somewhere that no one has seen. Alicia told Essence in 2012, "We had a ball shooting the video. It just so happens that the whole thing, for some reason or another, didn’t quite come together so we just decided to leave it." But, like, where is it?
"Robocop," Kanye West
Kanye filmed a futuristic clip for "Robocop" (from 2008's 808s & Heartbreak) starring then-girlfriend Amber Rose, but it never saw the light of day. That is until someone leaked it, of course. A quick snippet of the video made its way online in August 2014.
"Roman in Moscow," Nicki Minaj
She shot the video in December 2011 and even hinted at plot. “Well, he was there [in Moscow] secretly because [alter ego] Martha wanted him to go there, so they put him in this thing with monks and nuns; they were trying to rehabilitate him," she said, according to MTV News. Four years later, though, and we're still waiting for that damn video.
"Underneath the Stars," Mariah Carey
Talk about an epic '90s music factoid. Mariah revealed on Twitter in 2012 she shot a video for this 1995 track in France and England. However, the clip never was officially released, and Mariah doesn't know where it is. Wah!
"Serious," Gwen Stefani
Gwen did make a visual for this '80s style synth-pop delight but never officially released it. The video leaked in 2006 but is now virtually unfindable on the Web. We wanted some Madonna realness, Gwen!