Music videos are an audio-visual form that rose to prominence in the 1980s with the advent of the cable channel, MTV. They are unique representations of places and spaces spanning over four decades. Los Angeles has provided the location and background to music videos in every musical genre. Insights from Lefebvre’s spatial theory and social production of space are aligned with Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality. An examination of prominent hip-hop music videos is employed to trace the social and cultural tensions that configure lived experience in Los Angeles against notions of L.A. as a global entertainment capital. Music videos constitute vibrant urban renderings of Los Angeles at key inflexion points in its recent history.