2016 might go down on record as one of the most urgent (and totally bizarre) years in recent political memory. But for many people, including Montreal's Narcy, things didn't just pop off overnight: in fact, finding a new place of introspection and integrity beyond frontlines activism was the subject of his 2015 LP World War Free.
It's all serious, important stuff, but despite our harrowing times, Narcy's still got a sense of humor. In the video for "Love Me (Hate Me) PSA," he imagines what it'd be like to be an Arab musician in a potentially real future where Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency. But he sidesteps stonefaced political commentary, for surreal satire: there are vintage clips; Narcy, wearing an Atelier New Regime bomber, faces off with a hokey industry dude; Kindness shows up and does a little dance.
"The facade of being poppin' and relevant versus the responsibility I hold to my communit(ies) is a constant struggle with art," Narcy told The FADER over e-mail. "This video is about the everyday work of being an artist, and the behind the scenes bullshit we have to deal with. Most of all, this video is about being a brown/immigrant/Iraqi/Muslim/x and how, no matter what you do, your truth is never shared publicly and fairly in the music industry unless you tell it how it is. It's also a reminder that history has been repeating itself, and let's not make the same mistakes, again, with Trump."
