Mali Music Makes ‘Contradictions’ With Jhene Aiko
Whats good? Well, Mali Music for one is pretty damn good. Jhene Aiko and Mali Music team up for an unforgettable duet for the new video for ‘Contradiction,’ which , premiered on Friday night via The Fader at SxSW, you may remember this jam from Spike Lee’s 2015 movie ‘Chi-Raq’.
Both Mali Music and Jhene unify both visually and vocally for the sensual ‘Contradictions’. The video continues along the same aesthetics as the film ‘Chi-Raq’, both are at a house party In the video, the pair are pretty standard looking house party, Jhene is looking all types of fly with the side-part, and Mali’s beard looking perfect. Everyone is caught up dancing, when throughout people start to disappear and all that remain is their silhouettes. Even though people are disappearing all around, the crowd doesn’t fail, they continue to dance lost within the vibe. Before you start thinking WTF, there is actually a pretty dope message for the visuals that closely align with the Chi-Raq movie, Mali’s message for the video is: “Have we become so numb to the senseless violence and other nonsense in this world that people can quickly disappear from our lives [and] we just move on without missing a beat?”
In an age of instant gratification where I find myself almost immune and unphased by social injustice and the general shit of the world, this struck a chord with me. Directed by Davis Silis, the video is close to his own hometown:“The insurmountable loss Chicago has experienced over the years for many people only came into perspective when compared to America’s losses in Iraq, a war more publicised, and certainly longer-running than any other. I grew up not far from Chicago, so when this project came around, working with the supremely talented Mali Music, Jhené Aiko, and the team behind Spike Lee’s film ‘Chi-Raq’, the soundtrack on which ‘Contradiction’ features, it felt quite personal. Especially when only a few weeks after we finished filming, my own hometown suffered a mass shooting. What we wanted to create was a video that reinforced the story of ‘Chi-Raq,’ but also had its own message. Both a celebration of community, and a lament of its destruction. Or in other words, a contradiction. That while life does go on, we shall never forget those who were lost.”
