Exclusive: Nadia Nakai Gets Immortalized in the Music Video for ‘Amai’
Watch Nadia Nakai's music video for 'Amai.'
For her debut album, titled Nadia Naked, Nadia Nakai gives her listener more than just bravado in the form of chest-punching raps. In some songs, the South African/Zimbabwean rapper tells the story of the person behind the feisty and intimidating character that is Nadia Nakai as we all know her.
One such song is "Amai." In the song, the rapper lets the listener in on how her mother has always been there for her, rapping: "The machine I cannot live without/ She pick me up when I break down/ Now I'm up, I bow down."
In the song's music video, Nadia can be seen getting draped in mold in the process of making a bust of the rapper.
View this post on InstagramThe greatest moment in my 25 years of life is working with @bombisa x @setlamorago_mashilo to immortalize @nadianakai ! This monumental Sculpture of the rap goddess will live forever and I can only imagine what the stories will be told when its found 1000 years from Now. On her 1st album she is the 1st African musician to get a sculpture of herself made while she is still alive. Thank U to at @takezito , @nadianakai , @matroshy x @miltonthin for entertaining this crazy "you know what would be cool" Idea And @bombisa x @setlamorago_mashilo for the hard work x effort that they put into realizing that "you know what would be cool" idea. 2019
A post shared by Sandile [NOTHING] Mhlongo (@whereareyoutalent) on Sep 23, 2019 at 7:58pm PDT
"The song is literally about how your family molds you into becoming a grown person," Nadia tells OkayAfrica. "So, when they're putting the mold on me, that is forming me, and that's what my family has done for me."
Revered director TAKEZITO who's behind the visuals, tells OkayAfrica:
"The statue was an idea by my muse and art director on the project Sandile Mhlongo where he wanted to immortalize Nadia in this moment of her debut album. I loved the idea of immortalizing her and capturing her essence. It really was a very poetic and magnetic idea. Sanza enlisted Lazi Mathebula to create the artwork and Lazi was assisted by Mashilo Setlamorago."
The monochrome color scheme and close-up shots make the video an intimate work of art. "As a director," says TAKEZITO, "I found it very interesting that Nadia, as an entertainer, has to put so much effort into her look, [but] when you get to know her, she is a truly beautiful woman from the inside out. Like she really doesn't need to do anything and she just shines! And so, I really wanted to present her in her stripped-down form—natural, loving, vulnerable and pure.
"Overall, we set out to create a raw piece of art and our main concern was with making the sculpture but we feel the visual that accompanies it lives up to the pureness of the work."
"Amai" is the latest single from Nadia Naked, the rapper's critically acclaimed debut album, which was released in June. It features the likes of Cassper Nyovest, Kwesta, Lady Zamar and a few more others.
Watch the music video for "Amai" below and stream Nadia Naked underneath.
Follow Nadia Nakai on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Music video credits:
Production company: The Visual Content Gang
Director and producer: TAKEZITO
Production manager: Siphe Maphumulo
Director of photography: Sitho Bandezi
Gaffer: Onkgotpotse 'OG' May
Art director: Sandile Mhlongo
Sculptor: Lazi Mathebula assisted by Mashilo Setlamorago
Make-up artist: Noxolo Judith Mabota
Offline editors: Katleho Morabe & Itumeleng Nomtshongwana
Online edit and grade: Ludus Post Production
Post production producer: Sheron Enslin
Online editor: Michael Naidoo
Colorist: Michele Wilson