South London rapper and singer Keyah/Blu pulls you in and demands attention with her debut single, "Sweet." Over a sparse but atmospheric beat she talks of a hook-up and the feelings the morning after. "My baby keep it real, my baby keep it cool" she says softly over a jazzy backing. "Very sweet, very peak."
The video, premiering above, raises the stakes and features a wild array of imagery including seven ninjas clad in black hoods and balaclavas plus a memorable scene in she is wrapped in entirely in cellophane.
Speaking to The FADER via email, Keyah/Blu said: "I wrote 'Sweet' one morning after sneaking out to my boyfriend's house to spend the night with him. I got back home the next day and nobody had noticed I had even left. The song is about knowing what's good for you whilst also indulging in things that might not be so good, and finding the balance. Light and dark. It's inspired by human duality, ultimately. Women and men are hard and soft all at once. We fight this within us constantly, depending on the situation, leaving parts of ourselves feeling helpless while others thrive.
"For the video, originally all I had was this image of 7 ninjas on a beach floating around in my head, like the 7 levels of my consciousness. I wanted to focus on feelings that weren't necessarily touched upon in the song. The kidnapping has a lot of different meanings. I'm not a psycho girlfriend, I just wanted to show a side of me that the lyrics didn’t."
Check out the "Sweet" video above.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Beni Masiala.