VIDEO: Princess Nokia is Your Supreme Witch Leader in ‘Brujas’

By JUICE Malaysia • 24 Aug 2017 in News

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Call her Destiny Frasqueri, Wavy Spice, or Princess Nokia, the New York-based artiste is a force to be reckoned with – and we say that with confidence. Born in 1992 with a knack for androgynous style as well as a distinct assertiveness in both music and personal life, Destiny is a woman who is rich with culture, as she belongs in not just one but three different ancestries: Taino, Yoruban, and white Boricuan.

A post shared by New York City Aficionado (@princessnokia) on Aug 15, 2017 at 2:50pm PDT

As an addition to her music archive that’s already filled with songs that go against the boundaries of genre, Destiny’s artwork titled ‘Brujas’ is an assortment of spells, family, heritage, and in-your-face type of confidence. A direct translation of witch in Spanish, ‘Brujas’ throws a massive shoutout to Destiny’s bloodline, and works as retaliation to people who misconceive black magic and its roots due to the misappropriation of witchcraft by the Europeans. Its lyrics work like a modern-day history lesson (“You made her a slave, before that she came from a great tribe, the Arawak. She gave it to your girls of Salem, a gift repaid with betrayal”) and its music video is a pure spectacle of its own, toying with shades of white and blue that complement the tanned skin of her women.

Conceptualised by Destiny herself and brought to life by director Asli Baykal, the duo has recently released a companion piece to ‘Brujas’ in a short story titled Maiden, Mermaid, Well: A short by Princess Nokia that sees the ocean as its background, with a narrative that touches on the softness of black magic – a side of the infamous practice most people tend to dismiss. It’s a refreshing sound amongst some of today’s more clichéd pop music, and can certainly be put into the categories of both music and art, just like Princess Nokia herself.