Jhené Aiko has shared the music video for “Lyin King,” off of her debut album Souled Out, and it’s quite an impressive piece of work. The thought-provoking and artfully shot visualization casts the singer as some sort of wise woman in an arid world. She attempts to heal a rift between genders in the civilization, but her true purpose is much deeper — she explains it best in a letter to FADER, who premiered the video.
A mysterious, time traveling medicine woman has a prophetic vision of an early civilization in trouble.
The men have neglected the women and deprived them of love. By orders of their chief, the men of the tribe have taken away the women’s hearts and voices.
The women are powerless. The children are suffering.
The medicine woman travels for many days to reach the primitive village.
Upon her arrival, the medicine woman performs a miracle. She instantly restores the grace of the women of the tribe and gives them their voices back.
The men of this early tribe are not pleased.
With the men of the tribe’s attention, the medicine woman and the women of the tribe begin a ceremony in which they tell the story of how they are taking their voices back.
The chief is infuriated.
The medicine woman leaves the now capable women to conduct a private ceremony for the chief.
The chief is intrigued and frightened.
What he thinks will be a sexual experience turns out to be something very different.
After the ritual is performed, the medicine woman passes on her apocalyptic prophecy of how the world will end due to the lack of love throughout humanity.
The chief experiences ego death. He sees that it starts with him.”
So, yeah, it’s a lot. Watch it here via FADER.
