The best video essays of 2021 to watch on YouTube

The popularity of videos essays grew as coronavirus spread throughout the globe. POC video essayists gained popularity on YouTube in 2021, despite this homogenity being obvious from a quick glance. From behemoths like D’Angelo Wallace to humble creators like myself, there is a gradient of experiences that are finally being represented thanks to YouTube’s algorithm “apparently” being an equalizer. This article aims to highlight some gems that you might have overlooked.

The format for video essays is also evolving beyond the player. The days of a man from the Midwest accumulating thousands upon thousands of views for a video on why water is so wet are gone. It still happens. But most of today’s video essays now amalgamate several genres of YouTube videos. Whether it’s the commentary crossovers à la Tara Mooknee, or the stand-up comedy stylings of Chill Goblin, there is a variety of variations to find. These are some of the surprises we received in the past year. —Ransford James, aka Foreign

[Ed. note: This list is ordered chronologically rather than ranked by preference, meaning everything is worth checking out. And if you need more to watch, check out last year’s list.]

This touching series was first found by me on Animal Crossing – New Horizons via the social posts on F. D. Signifier’s YouTube channel — more on him later, but credit where credit’s due. Nowhere Grotesk’s bio on social media reads, “We’re two visual artists that create and examine art through a utopian leftist lens,” and that feeling permeates this series.

Talk about Animal Crossing – New HorizonsNowhere Grotesk focuses on pastoral nostalgia and communal living through the lenses of Nowhere Grotesk. This series refutes the common joke that Tom Nook was a greedy capitalist. This series demonstrates how Animal Crossing – New Horizons conveys the concept of community as directly in conflict with urbanization and capitalism, thriving only when everyone’s needs are met without the turmoil of work. The addition of Happy Home Paradise DLC, which gives players the option to work for additional outcomes, doesn’t nullify the anticapitalist argument here; working is a choice you can but don’t have to make. The island even meets more of the players’ needs by providing free healthcare. Animal Crossing isn’t the apolitical fluff many seem to think; instead, it’s a lovely, immersive argument for anarcho-communism, mutual aid, and rooting our politics in community. —Wil Williams

This offering is far from obscure, but by the off chance that Tee Noir has evaded your eyes and eluded your ears, consider my favorite video from her so far: “The Market of Humiliating Black Women.” Without spoiling this masterpiece, Tee breaks down what is such an innocuous experience that not many people even notice: How quotidian Black women’s pain is in popular media. The parody of the pain Black women experience every day is celebrated with millions upon millions of views, and thousands of shares.

This is an experience that is far from second-hand with regard to Tee Noir, as she faces scrutiny that men don’t, simply by virtue of being a Black woman on this platform — let alone her queerness. —RJ

After hitting shelves in 2008, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger GamesThe way the book conveyed modern-day struggles for class in a bizarre, borderline fantasal setting was well received. The Hunger Games was clear about what it was saying and referencing, but apparently, some readers didn’t get the memo — or perhaps they refused to.

Watch as Zayd performs the pull-up. Hunger Games fandom’s history to dissect what made some readers so shocked when Amandla Stenberg, a young Black actress, was cast as Rue, a young girl who is … canonically Black. This isn’t just about people reading a book wrong, though; it’s about why audiences felt less protective of Rue the moment she “became” Black “in casting.” It’s also about why most of those comments have since been scrubbed from the internet.

Yhara Zayd’s work has been featured on all of my video essay lists, and for good reason. She is sharp and concise with a passionate analysis. Her narration style and aesthetic are low-key, although not necessarily casual. Her occasional breaks to make a joke or loosen up her script emphasize what’s so important about the topic at hand: the humanity. —WW

Unironic ASMR, charismatic candor, and witty humor are but a few of Shanspeare’s calling cards. Shanspeare is the best at analyzing pop culture despite all of the channels out there. “Infantilization and the Body Hair Debate” is one of the most eye-opening videos that I have encountered, and it has provoked me — a cishet Afro-Caribbean man — into thoroughly addressing my own contributions to the subject matter. It is both disturbing and necessary to see this deep dive into the ways in which society encourages childrenlike behavior among women. Shanspeare explains how everything from the way I talk to women to my unconscious preference for neatly shaven legs is the result of an intentional inculcation, which was established long before I had even thought about it. This masterpiece, and her others, are worth watching. —RJ

Because of my ADHD specific symptoms it is sometimes difficult for me not to be able to dedicate time to watching video essays over an hour. It can also make it hard to truly fall in love. This should help you understand the gravity of my statement that this video lasted two and a half hours. It was watched more times on YouTube than any other YouTube video in this time period. What starts as an analysis of Bo Burnham’s InsideSlowly, it transforms into another thing, then some other, and finally, something else. Other. This video transitions so gracefully between discussions of posthumanism, the internet, online fame, and what makes something funny, all while being punctuated with CJ the X’s hallmark near-absurdist blink-and-you’ll-miss-it humor. This video is a classic in the medium because of how it ends. It’s a heartfelt, honest, and vulnerable love letter to empathy, human connection, wrapped up with a personal story that makes the thesis seem even more real.

This past year I found it difficult to believe in humankind or even have any basic hope. It was difficult to believe that all is well. I found this video to be the most helpful piece of media in those times. This is what I wrote about my experience reading the video. InsideBefore I saw this video and afterwards, I read about it. InsideEverything has been transformed. And I’m so grateful. —WW

This creator doesn’t need to be introduced, as I find it difficult to explain them. Khadija Mobowe is a walking example of the difficult walk. They are a nonbinary feminine-presenting creator with obsidian hue and they break down complex topics with humor and empathy. Moreover, they pay it forward by promoting creators that the algorithm may have missed — much like myself, and in the same way Tee Noir promoted them a year ago.

“The Reign of the Slim-Thick Influencer” is arguably my favorite Khadija Mbowe video this year. It’s a discussion of the trend of Brazilian butt lifts, how influencers like Kim Kardashian perpetuate unrealistic beauty standards, and the awful origins of commodifying the Black woman’s body. This is a must-see for everybody who consumes social media, which is … everybody. —RJ

An installment of Voice Memos for the Void’s Romance in Media series, “make more characters bi, you cowards: why (not) romance?” does what it says on the tin. This video shows the bizarre state of bisexual characters within media. It demonstrates how few bisexuals fall in love. You will not have sex but you will fall in love. Voice Memos for the Void effortlessly combats rebuttals to this idea that we hear every time we ask for more representation and romance: “Why do they need to be queer?” “Why do they need to be in love?” It also dives into different depictions of masculinity, a history of Byronic heroes, and the troubling tropes that follow bisexual characters around in media, like that of the Magical and/or Hedonistic Bisexual. We are sorry for the poor quality video. The equipment was expensive and the commentary far exceeds the shortcomings. We can thank F. D. Signifier’s feed for putting this video on my radar, too. —WW

Tee Noir has (?) a visibility that many POC creators don’t, Anansi boasts a dedicated 15,000 subscriber count but is deserving of far more. Their videos are closer to what many past video essays did, which was hiding their faces. Instead of focusing on how beautiful their appearances may be these days they rely more upon the content of their thoughts and less on their physical looks. While many of us comment and create on others’ actions, Anansi is a true pioneer in this field. Because they are so deeply rooted in American activism, their videos can only be an adjunct to a bigger concerted effort.

You can see the fight they have fought in this The Black Right Wing video. The video details a unique group of Black Americans who support the Trumpian conservatism, which continues to plague the United States today. This video is for those who are interested in the neurosis required to join a party antipodal to their existence. —RJ

You can see all the valleys and peaks this list has seen, starting with creators at the 100,000 mark up to those in the 10,000s. All of these videos have the same themes: the marginalized status of the creators, their video essays format and, most importantly, the quality. Trinibagan St. Andrewism’s video on Leftist Disunity has been a hit over the last year. This is the ultimate love letter for the leftist community, which encourages acceptance of all the differences within them. This is not something that St. Andrew approaches with pessimism as many others do. Instead, he seems to be gleefully hopeful that the diversity of ideas will save the United States and the entire world. —RJ

OK, Get it nowWe can now talk in detail about F. D. Signifier. My video essay list in Masterpieces of Streaming gave a short history of the rise of video essays from educational videos. In “Breaking Bread,” F. D. Signifier offers an uncomfortably accurate parallel history: the rise of video essays from rant reviewers like The Nostalgia Critic. The trend of debate bros and, in F. D. Signifier’s words, every LeftTuber making a video about Ben Shapiro, isn’t just rooted in the medium’s history, though; it’s also rooted in whiteness. That lens and style of video stays prominent thanks to the YouTube algorithm, and while the homogeneity of video essays has been critiqued many times, “Break Bread” breaks down the issue with an astounding level of complexity, research, and guests from all over the video essay ecosystem. How much of a video essayist’s success comes down to talent? What about luck? How much is it down to luck? —WW