Produced as part of a 30-minute film featuring the experiences of 2 music artists battling substance abuse, the music video for “Rhythm Nation” is filmed entirely in black and white. It features both female and male dancers wearing matching military-style outfits to emphasize the importance of gender inequality, which was also a key message in the song’s lyrics. Jackson‘s record label made numerous attempts to prevent her from filming and releasing the video. Luckily, she went against their wishes, and the video went on to win multiple awards for both its choreography and creativity.