Beyonce and JAY-Z’s latest music video ‘APESH*T’ is the handiwork of British-Nigerian Jenn Nkiru who believes in the celebration of blackness.
The world is still reeling from the joint Beyonce JAY-Z album titled ‘Everything Is Love’, the third act in their infidelity driven story (‘Lemonade and 4:44 as first and second acts respectively).
The Carters dropped the surprise album with an accompanying video, the lead single called ‘APESH*T‘. The visual sees Hip-Hop’s most powerful couple stunting hard in the Louvre, the world’s biggest museum.
The clip is unapologetically black as it drips with melanin excellence with French aristocratic opulence as the backdrop.
HOV and B have come a long way from ‘03 Bonnie and Clyde’ days. In that music video, the power couple was on the run from the system. In their 2018 visual, the Carters have successfully defeated the system and are sitting on top of the pyramid living life according to their own rules.
playBeyonce and JAY-Z’s first record ’03 Bonnie and Clyde’ was released in 2002
For all the black excellence in the video, we have to thank Jenn Nkiru. Ricky Saiz was the director but the British-Nigerian filmmaker who was the second unit director of ‘APESH*T’ was the influence.
Nkiru is an advocate of the exhibition of blackness on films. “I’m very interested in the concept of black universality — a centering of blackness from which others can also empathize and assign an aspect of themselves,” she told British Council in 2017.
Jenn Nkiru’s track record matches her pro-black philosophy. Her first short film ‘En Vogue‘ is a brilliant and mesmerizing work focused on the New York ballroom culture of black people in the LGBT community.
playA scene in En Vogue
Her most astounding work was released last year. The short film ‘Rebirth Is Necessary‘ is a compelling and gripping series of clips and footages pieced together to produce a strong sensation of pure blackness.
“I was thinking about so much while making Rebirth Is Necessary—the summation of my loaded feelings and questions over the last few years. I was thinking about black people, the black experience—which is my constant—and the idea of black universality” Nkiru told Nowness about her work.
Within the same year, she directed a short for International Women’s Day featuring Afro-British dancer Zinzi Minott.
Jenn Nkiru’s love for film started in her teenage years. At the age of 15, she started off as a production assistant.
“I went to film school in America for three years where I got my MFA (Howard University) in film directing and I was opened up to so much: African film, Italian film, Korean film, French film, Cuban film, early Soviet film etc” she told the British Council.
playJenn Nkiru and the glorification of blackness in film
Her style and philosophy are now very relevant in America’s landscape as the country grapples with racism and black identity in mainstream culture. With other exciting projects lined up, Jenn Nkiru will be bringing more blackness to a video near you.
