A Boogie wit Da Hoodie and Davido brought intercontinental heat with the banger ‘Way Too Fly’, a tune with a serious tropical punch to it. Now, they’ve released a fire video to match which has been steady trending on YouTube since it dropped. I guess A Boogie really stands by his album title. The self-proclaimed ‘International Artist’, based in New York, teamed up with one of Nigeria’s biggest artists to seal the deal on this track.
And it seems there’s just something about doing things in two’s. The dynamic-duo behind the video – creative director Dalia Dias and the one and only Flex God Daps – are another testament to the power of a good link up. And this isn’t their first rodeo: the pair made history on videos with Wizkid, Young Thug, Stormzy and Ty Dolla Sign.
This new addition has a very ostentatious, dark, cigar and Hennessey fuelled, private-room feel to it. Like it was set in the home of a Manhattan art dealer, who has a thing for African culture. I caught up with Dalia, to get an exclusive insight into the magic sauce behind-the-scenes of this recent collaboration.
Dalia gave me the rundown on her concept, “I thought it would be cool to add an element of African culture in the visuals. The ‘Way Too Fly’ video has a theme around Yoruba (Nigerian) Deities, African Art and Dance. Our main girls were very regal and queen like, you can see they are draped in gold and jewels, but also wearing colours [like] blue, gold and red to represent the Orisha’s (deities) who preside over love, intimacy, beauty, fire, magic and the Ogun river. A lot of thought was put into the details.”
“For the dancers I wanted them to be more tribal, so their costumes featured a lot of feathers and beading. But the main attraction was the body paint of course. The body paint was inspired by a Nigerian artist based in New York called Laolu Senbanjo – who is incredible. The combination of New York and Nigeria was surely a sign for me to pay homage to Laolu as it all tied in nicely. Reminds me of a Dries van Noten quote… “coincidence is important, the convergence of different ideas.” It created a nice story behind the creative direction and that’s how I work. When I’m researching and brainstorming ideas I like to go with things that have context and meaning to me as well as the project.”
Of course I had to ask about the drip, and find out what Davido and A Boogie were wearing. Both seemed to add a streetwear-luxury twist to the traditional overcoat, draped in ice to finish it off. I wouldn’t expect any different from two of the world’s leading artists.
Dalia co-signs: “A Boogie & Davido had their personal stylists on set come through with some incredible pieces, like the Comme des Garçons jacket A Boogie is wearing for example – insane! But a lot of items used for the shoot were custom made. We probably had more niche and independent designers and custom made items of clothing and accessories than all the big fashion name brands, and I like it like that. It’s [about] creating someting unique, one of a kind and not easy to replicate.” (Peep Dalia’s masterpiece through her lens, she provided the visuals for this article also!)
This is definitely an international hit to vibe the rest of the summer to. A necessary bridging of the gap. Incidentally… New York won’t have to wait long to see Davido in the flesh. The One Africa Music Fest sets to bring the top African artists on one stage in August.
