FKA twigs, Headie One, Fred again.. - Don’t Judge Me [Video]
FKA twigs, Headie One and Fred again.. team up for their timely track, ‘Don’t Judge Me‘. Originally featured as an interlude on Headie and Fred’s ‘GANG’ mixtape, this expanded version is accompanied by a powerful video directed by both Twigs and filmmaker Emmanuel Adjei.
Adjei and Twigs’ film for ‘Don’t Judge Me’ delicately depicts the struggle of being Black in Britain today. The video captures FKA twigs and Headie One alongside a large cast of Black cultural game-changers, including the poet and Black Lives Matter activist Solomon O.B, writer Reni Eddo-Lodge, activist and model Munroe Bergdorf, model Danto Earth, broadcaster Clara Amfo, model and activist Kukua Williams, musician and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, dancer and singer Lisa Elde, mental health advocate Nicole Crentsil, fitness expert and trainer Efua Baker and footballer Mahlon Romeo.
Shedding light on the inspiration for the visual, director Emmanuel Adjei explains:
“From someone’s appearance, we are unable to judge whether a person discriminates over color, sex, religion, or gender. The oppressors within the people surrounding us, most often remain invisible until their abuse against others is revealed. This is one of the reasons why, for generations, discrimination is so hard to fight. Who must the victim fight against if it can’t identify the perpetrator?
In this audio-visual document, we get to witness artists FKA Twigs and Headie One, amongst other Black British influentials, fighting against invisible forces of judgement and oppression. Having the enormous Victorian-inspired fountain ‘Fons Americanus’ by visual artist Kara Walker – depicting the historical, sorrowful story of slavery and colonization – as our setting, and particularly as the spirit of the film, this important monument creates another layer of depth and meaning to an invisible yet shared history.”
Young Turks Recordings are donating their profits from ‘Don’t Judge Me’ to The Black Curriculum. You can watch the track’s stunning visual here:
CREDITS
Directed by - Emmanuel Adjei & FKA twigs
Featuring Fons Americanus sculpture by Kara Walker
Supported by FARFETCH
FEATURED GUESTS
Clara Amfo
Efua Baker
Munroe Bergdorf
Nicole Crentsil
Lisa Elde
Danto Earth
Renni Eddo-Lodge
Solomon O.B
Mahlon Romeo
Kukua Williams
Benjamin Zephaniah
DANCERS
Valerie Ebuwa
Rhys Dennis
Toby ‘Shush’ Jackman
Dominant Namek
Rianna Trotman
Exec Producer/Producer - Morgan Clement
Exec Producer - Dom Thomas
Production Company - Object & Animal
Production Company - Phantasm
Producer - Alex Chamberlain
Production Manager - Chanel Parkinson
Production Assistant - Ayesha Marr
Casting - Affa Osman
1st AD - Ty Hack
2nd AD - Miles Lacey
Runners - Sinead Solomon, Abbey Casal
DOP - Paul Özgür
Focus Puller - Michael Hobdell
2nd A.C - Jomar O’Meally, Elisa Spigariol
Steadicam - Doug Walshe
Gaffer - Will Pope
Motion Control - Mr Moco
DIT - Moose Kruizenga
Production Designer - Paulina Rzeszowska
Art Department Assistant - Oliver Gilbert
Set Dresser - Sasha Webster
Stylists - Theo White & Matthew Josephs
Hair Stylist - Taiba Taiba
Groomer - Barber Nat
Make-up - Marina Belfon-Rose
Make-up (FKA twigs) - Bea Sweet
Choreographers - Theo TJ Lowe, Dominant Namek
Stunt Choreography/Stunts - Dom Dumaresq
Wushu Choreography - Samuel Mak
Headie Two - Ndongo Faye
Photographer - Adama Jalloh
Editing - Matt Newman @ Trim Editing
Colourist - Joppo @ de Grot
Post Production - Mathematic
Executive Producer - Hadi Dahrouge
VFX Supervisor and Flame artist - Fred Brandon
VFX Producer - Mikaella Zarka
SUPPORTED BY
Mathematic
Object & Animal
Phantasm
Commissioner - Scott Wright
Record Label - Young Turks Recordings
Special Thanks
Kara Walker, Charlie Porter, Trim Editing, Martine Rose, Virgil Abloh, Ronojoy Dam, Lovelace Owusu-Sekyere, Scott Briscoe at Sikkema Jenkins Gallery, Christopher Webster at Tate Modern, Affa Osman, Gary Farkas, Olivier Muller, Sade Lawson, Marleen Özgür, De Grot and Panavision