The Street Smarts of a Classic Young OG like Jidenna
Jidenna isn’t just trying to break new ground by creating a new genre called Swank music, he’s merging his street elegance to create a new take on a man.
Comparisons to Andre 3000 are rife, but Jidenna is adamant he’s different and it’s all about Swank, an elegant and funky take on hip-hop that transforms ordinary parties into sweaty soirées. If this is how things have been going down in East Flatbush, no wonder its heaving with Hipsters. The new remix of ‘Classic Man’ transports this Brooklyn-based lyrical wizard and self-styled thought leader to the West-coast where he oozes self-assured charisma.
Jidenna is also an educated man and the son of a Nigerian chief and an American anthropologist, graduating from Stanford University with a BA in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, he interned at the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute. Before dedicating himself to a solo career, Jidenna worked in an arts organisation in California which educates and empowers young people through art and music. The original version of the video with Roman GianArthur and features Jidenna cooly approaching police engaged in a stop and search.
Jidena is part of the electrifying roster of artists who’ve joined Janelle Monáe’s Wondaland Records alongside Roman GianArthur, Deep Cotton, and St. Beauty who are paving the way for a seismic shift in music and culture that’ll be felt for years to come.
When it comes to fashion, we also gotta give a shout out to the Street Etiquette duo who’ve recently diversified their blog and set up a ‘content studio’ in New York after popularising the ‘dapper’ aesthetic within the fashion scene.
‘Classic Man’ remix features Kendrick Lamar and will be featured on Jidenna’s forthcoming album “Wondaland Presents: The Eephus”.
