COLORS Berlin started as a simple idea: put an artist in a single-color room, record them performing one song live, and let the music speak. No gimmicks. No overproduction. Just raw talent and a single camera shot. Since 2016, the channel has racked up billions of views and launched careers. But not all sessions are equal. Some are good. These five are untouchable. Here’s the definitive ranking.
5. Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals – “Come Down” (2016)
This is the session that put COLORS on the map. Before the channel had a reputation, Anderson .Paak walked into a small Berlin studio and delivered six minutes of pure chaos and control.
The setup is minimal. .Paak sits behind a drum kit, flanked by The Free Nationals. The room is a deep, saturated red. No audience. No second takes. The camera never cuts. What you see is what happened.
Halfway through, .Paak drops the drumsticks, jumps over the kit, and starts rapping directly into the mic while the band keeps the groove locked. He’s sweating. The snare drum rattles. The bass is live. It feels like you’re standing two feet away from a club show that could fall apart at any second — but it never does.
Why it matters: This session proved COLORS could capture lightning in a bottle. It’s been viewed over 45 million times. It also established the channel’s visual signature: one color, one take, one camera. Every session after this one owes something to that red room.
Verdict: If you want to understand why COLORS works, start here. It’s the blueprint.
4. Brent Faiyaz – “Clouded” (2017)
Brent Faiyaz’s COLORS session is a masterclass in restraint. The room is a muted blue-gray. Faiyaz stands still, almost motionless, while the beat plays. He barely moves his body. But his voice does all the work.
The song is “Clouded,” a slow-burning R&B track about emotional distance. Faiyaz sings in a near-whisper for the first verse. The camera stays locked on his face. You can see his jaw tighten on certain notes. The background vocal layers are live, looped in real time by a small setup off-camera.
What makes it stand out: Most COLORS sessions rely on energy — jumping around, ad-libs, crowd-pleasing moments. Faiyaz does the opposite. He forces you to lean in. The performance is so controlled that when he finally lets his voice crack on the last chorus, it lands like a punch.
This session has 36 million views. It also launched Faiyaz into a different tier of recognition. Before COLORS, he was a buzzworthy R&B singer. After COLORS, he was a phenomenon.
Verdict: The best example of how COLORS can amplify an intimate performance. No theatrics needed.
3. Jorja Smith – “Blue Lights” (2017)
Jorja Smith was 20 years old when she recorded this session. The room is bright white. She’s wearing a simple black top. There’s no band — just a backing track and her voice.
“Blue Lights” is a reimagining of Dizzee Rascal’s “Sirens,” swapping the grime beat for a sparse piano arrangement. Smith’s vocal delivery is the whole show. She switches between a soft, almost fragile tone in the verses and a full chest voice in the chorus. The camera catches her closing her eyes on the high notes.
Why this ranks so high: The songwriting. “Blue Lights” addresses police brutality and racial profiling in the UK, but Smith delivers it with a warmth that makes the message land without feeling preachy. The COLORS format — one room, one take, no distractions — forces you to sit with the lyrics.
The session has 55 million views and counting. It’s one of the most-shared COLORS videos on social media, often used in playlists about protest music and UK soul.
Verdict: The most culturally significant session on this list. It’s a song that matters, performed in a way that makes you listen.
2. FKJ – “Tadow” (2017)
This one is a cheat code. FKJ (French Kiwi Juice) and Masego recorded “Tadow” live in the COLORS studio, but it’s not a typical session. It’s a full-band jam built on the fly. FKJ plays keys, saxophone, guitar, and a drum machine — sometimes all in the same loop. Masego handles the vocals and a second sax.
The room is a warm orange. The camera pans slowly as FKJ builds layers: a bassline, a chord progression, a sax melody, then Masego’s voice sliding in. The whole performance feels like watching someone discover a song in real time.
The numbers: This session has 120 million views. It’s the most-watched COLORS video of all time. It also became a meme — the “Tadow” sound was used in thousands of TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, and YouTube compilations.
Why it’s not #1: As incredible as it is, “Tadow” is more of a studio jam than a pure COLORS session. The format usually highlights a single artist performing a finished song. This one feels like a bonus track. It’s phenomenal, but it bends the rules.
Verdict: The most viral COLORS session, and the one most likely to make you say “how did they do that?”
1. Earl Sweatshirt – “Nowhere2go” (2018)
This is the one. Earl Sweatshirt’s performance of “Nowhere2go” is the single greatest COLORS session ever recorded. I’ll explain why.
The room is a deep, oppressive green. Earl stands alone, hoodie up, hands in pockets. The beat is a distorted, off-kilter loop — it sounds like it’s falling apart. Earl’s delivery is slurred, almost mumbled. He looks exhausted. The camera never wavers.
For two minutes and forty seconds, Earl performs like a man who has run out of energy but refuses to stop. The lyrics are dense, abstract, and personal — about grief, isolation, and the pressure of his early fame. At one point, he stumbles over a line, catches himself, and keeps going. It’s not a mistake. It’s the point.
Why this is #1: Every other session on this list is about technical skill or emotional delivery. Earl’s session is about honesty. He’s not performing for the camera. He’s not trying to impress. He’s just… there, in the room, letting the song exist. The COLORS format strips away everything except the artist and the song. Earl uses that emptiness to create something uncomfortable and real.
The session has 18 million views — modest compared to FKJ or Anderson .Paak. But it’s the one that artists reference most often in interviews. It’s the one that made people say “COLORS is not just a show, it’s a test.”
Verdict: The best COLORS session because it does exactly what the format promises: no safety net, no second take, no hiding. Earl Sweatshirt walked into a green room and left a masterpiece.
What Makes a COLORS Session Great? The Metrics That Matter
Not every COLORS session hits. Some are forgettable. Here’s what separates the five above from the rest.
| Factor | What It Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Vocal control under pressure | One take, no pitch correction. The singer has to nail it live. | Jorja Smith hitting the high notes in “Blue Lights” without a backing vocalist |
| Stage presence without movement | Can you hold attention without jumping around? The camera never cuts. | Brent Faiyaz standing still for “Clouded” |
| Song arrangement that fits the format | Sparse beats and clear vocals work better than dense production. | Earl Sweatshirt’s minimal beat for “Nowhere2go” |
| Moment of vulnerability | A crack in the voice, a stumble, a breath — real moments connect. | Anderson .Paak dropping the drumsticks and switching to rap mid-song |
| Cultural timing | Did the session capture a moment in the artist’s career or the culture? | Jorja Smith’s “Blue Lights” arriving during the 2017 UK racial justice protests |
The common thread: Every great COLORS session makes you forget the gimmick. You stop noticing the single-color room. You stop thinking about the one-take format. You’re just watching a person make music. The ones that fail are the ones where the artist treats it like a music video — too polished, too rehearsed, too safe.
The Sessions That Almost Made the List (and Why They Didn’t)
There are dozens of strong contenders. Here are three that came close, with honest reasons they fell short.
Mac Miller – “Self Care” (2018): Mac’s performance is haunting — recorded just months before his death. The room is a muted purple. The delivery is calm, almost resigned. It’s a beautiful session. But it lacks the raw energy of the top five. It’s a sad listen, not a powerful one. It belongs in a separate category: “most emotional COLORS session.”
Tom Misch – “Movie” (2017): Technically flawless. Misch plays guitar, sings, and layers loops like a one-man band. The session is warm and pleasant. But it’s too comfortable. There’s no tension, no moment where you worry he might lose control. That’s fine for background music. It’s not top-five material.
Little Simz – “101 FM” (2019): Simz is a powerhouse rapper, and this session showcases her breath control and wordplay. The problem is the song selection. “101 FM” is a slower, more introspective track. It doesn’t show her full range. Her later session for “Point and Kill” (2026) is better, but it came too late to crack the list.
Bottom line: The top five are not just great performances. They’re moments where the artist, the song, and the format aligned perfectly. The near-misses are excellent — but they’re missing one piece of the puzzle.
How to Watch COLORS Sessions Like a Critic
Most people watch COLORS sessions passively — they put them on in the background or scroll through YouTube recommendations. If you want to understand why some sessions work better than others, change how you watch.
Step 1: Watch without sound first. Mute the video and watch the artist’s body language. Do they look comfortable? Are they making eye contact with the camera? Are they fidgeting? The best sessions look like the artist forgot the camera exists.
Step 2: Listen for the first 30 seconds only. Most COLORS sessions hook you or lose you in the opening bars. If the artist doesn’t establish presence in the first 30 seconds, the rest of the performance rarely recovers.
Step 3: Watch for the “moment.” Every great session has a single second where everything clicks — a high note, a drum fill, a pause. Earl Sweatshirt’s stumble. Anderson .Paak’s jump over the kit. That’s the moment the session becomes memorable.
Step 4: Compare the COLORS version to the studio version. If the COLORS version is better, that’s a sign of a great session. If it’s worse, the artist probably relied too much on production.
Step 5: Watch the comments. The COLORS comment section is a unique ecosystem. Fans break down lyrics, argue about the best sessions, and discover new artists. It’s one of the few YouTube comment sections worth reading.
Verdict: If you want to find your own top five, use this method. It filters out the polished but empty performances and surfaces the ones with real weight.
The Verdict: Which COLORS Session Should You Watch First?
If you’ve never watched a COLORS session, start with Anderson .Paak’s “Come Down.” It’s the most accessible — high energy, impressive musicianship, and a clear demonstration of what the format can do. It’s the gateway drug.
If you want the best songwriting, watch Jorja Smith’s “Blue Lights.” It’s the session that holds up best as a standalone piece of music, separate from the visual format.
If you want the most technically impressive performance, watch FKJ’s “Tadow.” It’s a circus act in the best sense — watch once for the music, again to figure out how he’s making all those sounds at once.
If you want the most honest performance, watch Earl Sweatshirt’s “Nowhere2go.” It’s not easy listening. But it’s the session that best answers the question COLORS was built to ask: what happens when you strip everything away and leave only the artist and the song?
That’s the list. Five sessions. Five different approaches. One channel that changed how we watch live music online.