Richardine Bartee
British songwriter-singer Laura Mvula inspired APSPDR+’s version of “She,” and the video is an edited montage of Canadian writer-director Duncan McDowall’s 2011 film “Painted.”
Torn, ugly, and distressed is some of the words that come to mind when I think of the tragedy that happened this morning in Europe. After the smoke clears and the debris of the explosions are cleaned up, we humans, have to live with knowing that we have lost our loved ones through an act of violence stemming through hate. We have to go on with broken families, and people are forced to live in extreme fear again. While its intent was not to beckon or rupture emotions as such on a day like this, the redolent picture for the Harlem-bred producer APSPDR+’s latest music video can weaken or awaken a troubled soul.
Yes, art is open to interpretation depending on your perspective of life — based on how you grew up and what you turned out to be — but mentally, we are all on our own. Steering our ships or bodies, choosing daily to either stand tall or lay down and surrender.
Watch the haunting, inspirational symbolic picture below, which features complementing elegiac prose by a local young poet named Robert Castaño. I hope it inspires you to love, create and influence others.
