On the back of premiering his new single “Jordan” via Complex a few weeks ago, Nigerian-born Toronto artist, producer and musician Idris Lawal has blessed us with the brand new accompanying music video for “Jordan“, which we’re excited to premiere online on We Plug Good Music today, after it got its live premiere at Idris Lawal’s debut showcase ‘A Travelling Light’ on March 14.
Taken from his forthcoming solo debut EP, which is due for release in September, and the first of three singles to be released in the lead up to the EP, “Jordan” is an alternative R&B/Hip-Hop masterpiece, with strong genre-fusing sensibilities, backed by an ethereal piano musical backdrop and lush guitar arrangements, and held together perfectly by Idris Lawal’s captivating vocal display, infectious delivery, and gripping songwriting, about being a black male youth trying to figure life out.
Before the release of “Jordan” earlier this year, Idris Lawal launched his solo career last year with the 2-song mixtape A Man & Amora, and before that, the Nigerian-born musician was the lead singer for 4-piece alt pop band tadé, who released a 4-track EP titled Omo in 2017, to rave reviews and critical acclaim.
All together, Idris Lawal comes championed by the likes of BandCamp, Native Magazine, APT613, and Glue Magazine, as well as more recently, the already aforementioned Complex and ourselves at We Plug Good Music, plus Earmilk, The Hype Magazine, and Iggy Magazine, among others. The music video for his new offering “Jordan”, which you can watch here, are a really interesting visual spectacle, put together by burgeoning filmmakers Ryan Pimenta and Eli Ganuelas.
Speaking about the video for “Jordan”, Idris Lawal says, “I wanted to dedicate the video for ‘Jordan’ to some of my favourite heroes of colour. ‘Jordan’ came about a time when I was looking for inspiration in my life and I looked to some of the people featured in the videos to find that – Michael Jordan, Ronaldinho, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Muhammad Ali – they all achieved greatness in their respective disciplines – some in multiple fields. That’s why you see all these people in the TV.
These people are also from all over the globe and I myself had travelled all over before settling in Canada, so I also wanted the video to show a constant movement from different locations. We shot the video over three seasons – Summer, Fall and Winter – and that TV scene is actually my living room.
You’ll also notice that in the beginning of the video, I start in underground/dark settings and towards the end I’m at a higher altitude or in an open field – this is something I also wanted to portray in the video. Always moving, Always looking up. Myself, Ryan Pimenta and Eli Ganuelas formed the 3-man team that shot the video“.
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Words by Ayo Adepoju
