Music videos with a message

Can you mix pop videos with 'real life'? On the face of it, it looks like a tricky proposition. Conventionally, a music video is a tool to promote the artist and song, and a means to deliver an appropriate image or fantasy. 

But it’s more complicated than that, especially when reality forces its way into the work of musicians. As they express their feelings about prevalent social and political issues through their music, it becomes a question of whether or not this will be represented in a visual for that song. And if so, how? 

It’s now nearly four years since Donald Glover, as Childish Gambino, sprang This Is America upon the world. 

The video directed by Hiro Murai, Glover’s longtime collaborator, was a sensation in almost every respect. Glover and Murai articulated a sense of terror in the African-American experience through an incendiary mix of symbolic imagery and performance that was visceral and thought-provoking. 

Many artists are, for want of a better word, more 'woke' than ever before, but they are sensitive to where that might lead.

This was an iconoclastic artistic statement that found its best means of expression as a music video, and then transcended the medium, resonating within the wider orbit of popular culture and the political sphere. 

This Is America followed acclaimed work by Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, Jay Z and Beyoncé that had also confronted the issues around race in the US, then visualised by directors such as Kahlil Joseph, Mark Romanek and Arthur Jafa.

We are in cancel culture-land, and if you put a toe wrong, it’s over. 

These works contributed to the artistic environment in which Childish Gambino made This Is America, but since then, perhaps not surprisingly, nothing has quite had the extraordinary impact that it had. Though Real Life shows no sign of becoming less harrowing, it seems it can be difficult for artists to be seen to take a stance on a subject. 

As a video commissioner at a major UK label tells us (speaking anonymously) there are very good reasons for artists to steer clear of making statements about a political or social issue: “Many artists are, for want of a better word, more ‘woke’ than ever before, but they are sensitive to where that might lead,” they say. 

“We are in cancel culture-land, and if you put a toe wrong, it’s over. There’s a lot of fear that you get headlines for all the wrong reasons – and that does happen.”

Also unsurprisingly, big labels are rarely keen on artists making political points – especially if it may obstruct their popularity. “From a marketing perspective, the plan is to get the artists and their artistry over with the public, and sell records,” says the commissioner. “The thought of making videos with a political message is not on people’s radar.” 

I sometimes think that Vic [Mensa] is as much an activist as a musician... He doesn’t care about getting cancelled.

So when a bold statement on a political or social issue does happen, it usually comes from the artist, sometimes in direct contact with a director or visual artist. There are even artists who are unconcerned about drawing enemy fire on social media. 

André Muir has directed two videos for rapper Vic Mensa that draw on their shared experience living on Chicago’s South Side, both with a strong emphasis on Mensa’s widely expressed views on racism and inequality in America. 

I wanted to show Black happiness, and how good things happen, and then how, sometimes, it feels like a nightmare, and your worst fears happen.

“I sometimes think that Vic is as much an activist as a musician,” reflects Muir, who has known the rapper since school days, and recalls Mensa’s criticism of hip-hop performers who brag about abusing women, including the late rapper XXXTentacion, which prompted a social media backlash. 

“He doesn’t care about getting cancelled!”

Mensa and Muir’s first collaboration was for Mensa’s 2019 EP, V Tape, an impressionistic view of life on the South Side played over a series of mini-episodes, covering the ups and downs of life in a deprived neighbourhood. 

I just wanted my mum’s face to be in front of people – I didn’t want her, or anyone who died of Covid, to be forgotten.

V Tape expresses the inequality and lack of opportunity for this urban Black community – less iconoclastic than This Is America, but focussing on one part of the conversation, and set within a realistic world. “I wanted to show Black happiness, and how good things happen, and then how sometimes it feels like a nightmare, and your worst fears happen,” Muir explains. “Finally, I wanted to have some kind of catharsis.” 

V Tape was followed by Muir’s video for Mensa’s Shelter which came out in 2021, a year into the pandemic. By this point, Muir’s mother, tragically, had died of Covid, so he wanted to create a memorial to her and many others, pointing out that African-Americans had been disproportionately affected by coronavirus in the US. 

The viewer is invited to engage with not only what is on the screen, but the subtext – the psychological impact of racial discrimination.

The imagery he employed includes having Mensa, again situated in the Chicago South Side, lying in the road with others, symbolising those who died during the pandemic.

“I just wanted my mum’s face to be in front of people – I didn’t want her, or anyone who died of Covid, to be forgotten,” says Muir. “So many families are dealing with that loss. And Vic was okay with it – he said that was the only video he wanted to make.”

Muir’s video for Shelter is a cry from the heart using strong music video devices to powerful effect. 

His most recent video for Mick Jenkins, Truffles, takes a more nuanced view of the Black lived experience. 

When Jenkins’ African-American neighbours are gradually replaced by white ones, the viewer is invited to engage with not only what is on the screen, but the subtext – the psychological impact of racial discrimination. This reflects the growing trend for one important socio-political issue to become inextricably linked to another – and particularly for the issue of mental health being part of the conversation. 

Director and creative director Nathan James Tettey’s latest video for UK artist Dave, is a case in point. 

The visuals for Verdansk sees the grime star on a ‘black ops’ military mission, a la Call Of Duty. The film works as an action blockbuster, but also as a metaphor for Dave’s state of mind.

The more popular the artist, the greater likelihood of a more cautious approach from the artist’s label or management.

Tettey points out that Dave’s lyrics are often political – as is the case with many British grime artists. “People in the Black music space decide when the time is right for political messages,” he says. “It’s always happening around them.” 

The director believes that music videos work well as a vehicle for messages – but he agrees that the more popular the artist, the greater likelihood of a more cautious approach from the artist’s label or management. “But then you can be Dave, and say that living your life is like a computer game where everyone is an enemy trying to kill you – which is the subtext of Verdansk.”

Tettey adds that there is no right or wrong way to deliver a message. Using visual devices to push the viewer to consider the subtext of a video may strengthen its impact, but the crucial thing is to have an artistic viewpoint. “If you think that message needs to be spoon-fed, then do it,” he says. 

The route of Rudimental’s video for So Sorry, directed by Iain Simpson last year, takes that more direct route. Simpson employs a grittily realistic narrative to explore social and political themes in Brexit England. 

The video depicts a young man from a deprived English coastal town who’s embraced far-right nationalism and abuses the young Muslim woman who provides care for his father who's suffering from Alzheimer’s. “I’m passionate about mental health, and plenty of research went into the video,” says Simpson. “I had really good advice from the Samaritans about how to portray the attempted suicide scene at the end, so not to trigger vulnerable viewers.” 

The Samaritans is one of several mental health charities whose logos appear at the end of the video. But Simpson adds that the video is also a critique of the ugly by-product of Brexit. “It’s given people permission to abuse those of different cultures and religions, to be racist,” he says. “It felt infuriating to see this unfold, led by our Government. Something sparked from that.”

Simpson’s film garnered plaudits both via awards recognition – the video was nominated at the UKMVAs last year – and audience responses on social media. “It was a life-changing project,” he says. “It became a labour of love, there was a lot of pressure to pull it off – and it was worth it just because of the reaction. It resonated with so many people.” 

For the Rudimental video So Sorry, director Iain Simpson consulted mental health charity The Samaritans on how to portray the film's attempted suicide scene. 

But there is another way of looking at success when making a political statement in a video – you know it has had an impact when it is derided by the Government. This has happened with the video for Russian band Sansara’s We Will Become Better, directed last year by Latvian director Andzej Gavriss for the Russian LGBT Network.

Gavriss portrays a relationship between two men that has to be hidden in Russian’s repressive society. The men express their love for each other through an intimate dance – but each one is alone, in their own homes, imagining that the other is with them.

A lot of people were afraid to be in the video. We had no problem finding our first actor, but casting the second guy was torture.

In this case, the idea to make the film came first. It was created by Russian creative agency Voskhod, and written by Gavriss’s regular collaborator Evgeny Primachenko, following the change in the Russian constitution by Vladimir Putin banning same-sex marriage and state-sponsored moves to stir up homophobia.

With Gavriss’s involvement it was decided to frame it as a music video, and the director then chose the Sansara track. “We felt that it made the film easier to digest and discuss – it was a good format for us.” But he says that in the prevailing climate the film was a real struggle to get made. “A lot of people were afraid to be in the video. We had no problem finding our first actor, but casting the second guy was torture.” 

I was saying to everyone, ‘the YouTube comments will blow our minds with all the hate'. But in fact, there was none.

Gavriss says the video was made to win over an audience that may be ambivalent or actively hostile to the message. The purpose was, in short, to change minds. It's success can be gauged from the response it received – which was both good and bad. 

“The video got attention,” Gavriss confirms. “After it was released, the Russian LGBT Network had its status changed to ‘foreign organisation’, so it cannot now operate within Russia. Then there was a letter from [the Russian] government saying it was ‘gay propaganda’.”

Following the release of the promo We Will Become Better, the Russian LGBT Network was included by the Ministry of Justice of Russia in the "register of unregistered public associations performing the functions of a foreign agent".

Gavriss was expecting a similar response online; “I was saying to everyone – ‘the YouTube comments will blow our minds with all the hate'. But in fact, there was none. People are happy about the film – that’s what makes me so excited.”

The sentiment expressed in Gavriss’s Sansara video, that every human has the right to love another, may appear self-evident to a liberal audience in the West, but is also a reminder that the freedom to express oneself as non-heterosexual was hard-won – and not that long ago, either. 

And there is still plenty of discussion going on over here too, as individuals seek to be accepted for their specific identity, within the ‘non-hetero’ space. 

Last year Jordan Rossi, director/photographer and LGBTQI+ activist, collaborated with the trans performer Darkwah for the video for DJ/producer Elderbrook’s Broken Mirror. 

Music is such an accessible thing, so music video is really a powerful tool to tell stories and deliver messages.

It’s essentially a plea by the trans artist to be able to express their authentic self. Rossi says the project came about as Alexander Kotz – aka Elderbrook – wanted to share his platform, make something with meaning, and “didn’t want to appear like he was jumping on the bandwagon.” The result is a highly engaging day-in-the-life drama-doc. It’s also the specific, authentic nature of the story that makes it work as a statement about individuality and acceptance. 

The video’s release was followed up with Instagram Live debate, as part of an integrated campaign. But Rossi says it was the format of the music video itself that provided a unique opportunity. “It goes back to the reachability of music, and the ease of digesting a music video. That’s much harder to do with a short film.”

Music videos are the perfect format to get the message across without overly punching people in the face.

It is a view that is shared by numerous creatives, and supported by a steady stream of videos that continue to address issues in different ways; some quietly, some more insistently. 

Already in early 2022, we have had mainstream pop artist Ella Henderson look at mental health issues (and hook up with mental health charity MIND) and motherhood in her video for Brave.