Nearly a year ago, FKA twigs was featured on a track called “Don’t Judge Me” from emcee Headie One and producer Fred again..’s GANG mixtape, a song that dealt with the difficulties of being Black in the trio’s native England. Today they’re bringing the heavy subject matter back into focus with a visual for an extended cut of the single, featuring cameos from a handful of Black artists and activists, including BLM activist Solomon O.b and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race author Reni Eddo-Lodge.
“From someone’s appearance, we are unable to judge whether a person discriminates over color, sex, religion, or gender,” shared director Emmanuel Adjei—who’s worked on projects with Madonna and Beyoncé—in a press statement. “The oppressors within the people surrounding us, most often remain invisible until their abuse against others is revealed. This is one of the reasons why, for generations, discrimination is so hard to fight. Who must the victim fight against if it can’t identify the perpetrator?
“In this audio-visual document we get to witness artists FKA twigs and Headie One, amongst other Black British influentials, fighting against invisible forces of judgement and oppression,” he continues. “Having the enormous Victorian-inspired fountain ‘Fons Americanus’ by visual artist Kara Walker—depicting the historical, sorrowful story of slavery and colonization—as our setting, and particularly as the spirit of the film, this important monument creates another layer of depth and meaning to an invisible yet shared history.”
Watch the clip below.
