Any decent journalist can recite Marshall McLuhan's line "the medium is the message," which is especially fitting when it comes to the best music videos of the year. As an artist, how you choose to portray your music onscreen says a lot about your creativity and thought process.

Creating a memorable music video these days is hard work but the visuals below are proof that if executed right, the results can go viral. Although the videos XXL selected for the 20 Best Hip-Hop Videos of 2015 didn't premiere on TRL or 106 & Park because those platforms don't exist anymore, there's no reason to let the visual to your favorite song become a throwaway. In fact, the meme-generating game of some of these videos surpasses the audio it accompanies.

This year, a select few rappers weren't afraid to think outside of the box when it came to transforming their sonic work into a visual masterpiece. Chance the Rapper brought rap to Broadway with "Sunday Candy," Missy Elliott showed fans she's still got moves in "WTF," Drake had the internet in stitches over his salsa moves in "Hotline Bling" and Lil Dicky made being fiscally responsible into a hilarious art form with "Save Dat Money."

These are the most creative, cool and calculated hip-hop videos of the last 12 months. Which one is your pick for the top spot of the year? We're sure it'll be a difficult decision to pick just one. Here are the 20 Best Hip-Hop Videos of 2015.