Despite significant strides in the entertainment industry, the representation of Black female artists remains disproportionately low. However it’s apparent there’s a landscape slowly shifting. Artists like Ojerime, ABRA, and FKA twigs are rewriting the rules and creating new pathways for avant-garde expression in music visuals.

These artists are defining a new era of music video aesthetics, pushing the boundaries of genre and visual language. Their works fuse music with futuristic, immersive and boundary-pushing experiences and visuals that reject the  conventional “mainstream” culture of music videos. Fka twigs heavy indulges in this aesthetics in her music video ‘Pamplemousse’ a fusion of glitchy, dreamlike editing and bold fashion to create a world that feels both intimate and otherworldly.

Similarly to Abra and Ojerimie who similar in they music videos, ‘Unlock It’ and ‘Jet Set’ ,the artist explore surreal visuals and non-traditional storytelling to create a unique audiovisual experience.

They embody avant-garde in its truest sense as an art form that is constantly challenging the norms, rejecting the familiar, and forging new, experimental paths.

Avant-garde music visuals, especially by these Black female artists, are a direct product of the internet era. Platforms like YouTube and Vimeo, once a space for DIY culture, have now become incubators for new media experimentation. The “new aesthetic” is largely shaped by digital technologies, where endless possibilities for remixing, cross-media collaboration, and boundary-defying visuals have emerged. Music videos are platforms for personal expression, as artists create visual worlds that mirror their own identities in the contemporary which we see in their music videos, showcasing their talents through technical edits and direction. 

In the context of digital advancements, as theorist Judith Vernallis suggests, music video editing patterns have undergone a radical transformation. No longer limited by traditional formats, artists have access to hours of digital footage, which can be manipulated in countless ways to craft a new visual experience. The result is what she terms the “mixing board aesthetic,” a fluid, experimental approach that defines today’s avant-garde music visuals.

Through their visionary work, Ojerime, ABRA, and FKA twigs are at the forefront of a cultural revolution, asserting their influence in an industry that is slowly but surely learning to embrace diverse, bold voices. These artists, unapologetically “girl bossing” the avant-garde realm, are leading the charge in redefining what it means to be a Black female artist in today’s media.

REFRENCES:

FKA twigs. (2023) Pamplemousse [Music video]. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9gcHsFkiek

Judith, V. (2013) Unruly Media: YouTube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ojerime. (2020) Jetset [Music video]. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pV-qMOYxeI 

ABRA. (2016) Unlock It [Music video]. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO818K0C14A

33742304- Naomi Nemi

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