Music Videos Filmed in Miami

With its bright colors and rich history, Miami itself seems like a music video. That’s why artists across genres have been filming music videos here since the dawn of MTV, showcasing our sandy beaches, glittering skyline and nonstop energy. 

Though countless music videos have been shot in Miami, some stand out either for their iconic imagery or only-in-Miami experiences. From George Michael to Rick Ross, listen along as you learn about the best music videos ever filmed in Miami.

God’s Plan by Drake

2018

The video for God’s Plan has absolutely nothing to do with the song’s lyrics, but is a heartwarming journey with Drake as he goes around Miami helping the less fortunate.

Drake moves from the Overtown Youth Center to Miami Senior High, South Pointe Park and the University of Miami, introducing us to the people who are the backbone of the city. He gets on a bullhorn in a supermarket and tells everyone their grocery bills are paid, then hands stacks of cash to a disabled woman and gifts a van to the youth center.

Fun fact: Drake’s budget for this video was close to a million dollars, all of which he gave away during filming.

Miami by Will Smith

1997

Will Smith’s Miami is the destination's unofficial anthem, used as a background in countless vacation posts from Miami Beach. Will Smith set the template for Miami music videos, with a narrative that begins in a freezing cold Philadelphia diner (actually the 11th Street Diner in South Beach).

Will tells his chilly friends to “get the plane,” as they embark on a South Beach fantasy, complete with strolls down Ocean Drive and a boat trip under the Rickenbacker Causeway. The party continues on a mysterious salsa-dancing island, forever setting the expectation for the perfect Miami vacation.

Fun fact: In the video’s opening minutes, we see a beautiful woman driving a sports car singing “Bienvenido a Miami.” It was Eva Mendes long before she was famous.

Chains (The Wynwood Walls Edition) by Nick Jonas

2015

Though Wynwood is packed with colorful street murals, it’s been the backdrop to curiously few music videos. Perhaps that’s because Nick Jonas set the bar so high with Chains, where nearly every frame of the video has the Wynwood Walls and other street art in the background. Jonas also features artists and other Wynwood locals in the video, and ends the whole thing covered in paint.

Fun fact: Chains has another video (released the year prior), which is a much darker version closer to the song’s lyrics.

Careless Whisper by George Michael

1984

Long before rappers, R&B artists and DJs fell in love with Miami as a music video destination, George Michael was ahead of the curve. The 1980s gem Careless Whisper captures the Miami of that era, as shots of the skyline show a clearly-visible Freedom Tower with no other buildings around it.

A seaplane takes off from near Bayside Marketplace, showing a much smaller Downtown Miami skyline than we have today. Michael and his lost lover kiss on a sailboat off Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, and the video ends with him gazing out from a balcony atop Grove Towers Condo, which at the time was only three years old.

Fun fact: Michael co-wrote the song with Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley.

Shake Ya Tailfeather by Nelly

2003

Shake Ya Tailfeather by Nelly is the unofficial theme song from Bad Boys 2 and an unmistakably Miami music video. Before the music starts, we join Nelly and friends smoking cigars at a Calle Ocho ventanita, looking at the women who walk by.

The video continues with clips from the movie, a luxury Miami hotel pool, the streets of Little Havana, Domino Park and a beach party in Crandon Park. The video showcases the aesthetic people come to Miami to experience, from models to palm trees.

Fun fact: Bad Boys 2 was filmed before the days of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), and its iconic car chase scene across the MacArthur Causeway required shutting the road down for multiple afternoons.

Hustlin by Rick Ross

2006

Miami native Rick Ross offered a music video reality check to the world in the opening minute of Hustlin. He begins near Lummus Park in South Beach, surrounded by Ocean Drive's hotels. He then drives across the Macarthur Causeway passing the the cruise ships and beautiful views of Downtown Miami's skyline, all while immersed in the Miami fantasy of fast cars and beautiful women.

Fun fact: Ross wrote the song on his way to a concert by fellow Miami rapper Trina and first performed it as a special guest at her show that night.

I’m on a Boat by Lonely Island featuring T-Pain

2009

Second only to Will Smith’s Miami in Instagram ubiquity is Lonely Island’s comic classic, I’m on a Boat. The video features comedian Andy Samberg joined by Kiv and T-Pain as they cavort on a yacht in nautical outfits telling the whole world they are, in fact, on a boat.

The video is a not-so-subtle satire on the showiness of boat parties, bragging about being in flip-flops while “You’re at Kinko, straight making copies.” If any skyline other than Downtown Miami’s passed by in the distance, the video wouldn’t have worked.

Fun fact: The video first appeared as a digital short on Saturday Night Live in 2009.

Leave the World Behind by Swedish House Mafia featuring Laidback Luke and Deborah Cox

2009

The video for Swedish House Mafia’s 2009 breakout hit Leave the World Behind begins with Steve Angello telling the camera, “Miami is the bomb. It’s crazy.” The next two minutes show us exactly why, as we follow Swedish House Mafia through Miami Music Week and Ultra Music Festival during the EDM heyday of the late-2000s. The group plays in front of big, beautiful crowds from Bayfront Park to the now-closed Mansion nightclub, as Deborah Cox’s vocals are interspersed with sound bites from the group and their fans.

Fun fact: The song was first released at Winter Music Conference 2009 in Miami.