Need some relief from the insidious creep of approaching midterms? Check out these 8 music videos – some old, some new – made by and for women.
FKA twigs – Two Weeks
If you can overcome the urge to close your eyes in attempts to absorb the addictive complexity of Two Weeks, the song’s accompanying video is – in a word – decadence. Rendered in shades of gold, twigs gestures delicately as a sunlit goddess figure, nourishing rhythmic clones so compelling they betray their miniature stature.
Princess Nokia – Brujas
Melding powerful declarations of Afro-Latina pride and defiant, rapid refrains – “Don’t you f**k with my energy!” – up-and-coming New York rapper Princess Nokia pairs her distinct flow with intoxicating visuals in Brujas. Orisha and representations of Santerían and Yoruban religious ritual take center stage here, offering yet another beautiful – and quite literal – facet to the spirit of #BlackGirlMagic.
Maggie Rogers – Alaska
A kind of freewheeling that makes you want to throw on your rattiest jeans and lay claim to a forest grove. No egos or posers allowed in this softly twilit corner of the talented Rogers’ imaginings – just good-natured mischief and camaraderie.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Deadly Valentine
As if a guest spot by Dev Hynes wasn’t enough, Gainsbourg takes Deadly Valentine watchers on a chronological tour of destined-for-you, lifelong love. It straddles the real and the ideal, but is heartwarming all the same.
Japanese Breakfast – Road Head
Maybe the title hints at the parodically absurd nature of the video – in short, frontwoman Michelle Zauner involved in a dispassionate love affair with an otherwise horrifying monster. Before you register it as along the lines of a modern Beauty and the Beast, watch until the end – Zauner juxtaposes the casual implications of “road head” with dark narrative, leaving you wondering who the monster really is.
Rihanna – Goodnight Gotham
Perhaps it’s the slow-mo or the secondary soundtrack of almost unearthly screams and chants, but in the span of a minute, Goodnight Gotham accelerates to a chill-inducing (actually) peak. It’s the simplest of testaments to one woman’s unshakeable superstardom and the gravity of cult fandom.
Oyinda – Serpentine
Nigerian-British singer Oyinda’s visuals for Serpentine are perfectly embodied in their title – silky, winding, consumed as easily as water. The opening scenes transition without a hitch into the surprising second half of the video – almost leading you to question whether the first Oyinda had been computer-generated, too. The video offers a powerful response to the innately voyeuristic gaze of the watcher, celebrating both the natural human form as well as the strange potential of the virtual medium through which we consume these images.
Grab your popcorn and get watching!
