Fresh musical talent Ladi Anne has just released her debut single + music video “New Renaissance”, and to say that the music and visuals are unconventional feels like an understatement. Taking pride in her weird and crazy style, the artist doesn’t pull any punches and comes out swinging with some truly unique imagery that challenges your expectations and leaves a lasting impression.
We got the chance to interview Ladi Anne about the project and how she came up with her wacky ideas.
How did the concept for “New Renaissance” come about?
I like to say that it was all a download because I didn’t sit down and tried to come up with the song or ideas for the video, they just came to me all at once just like a download! It was divine, and I just knew what I wanted to do!
What kind of statement are you making with the music + visuals?
I want people to know that no matter how chaotic things get due to everything going on, A NEW RENAISSANCE IS COMING AND WE WILL BE OK! With the NR coming, we need people to step into the role of living their passion and sharing their gifts with the world!
That was basically the message of the video and the message I want to spread throughout my career!
What was it like working with the VIBE team on this project?
Amazing! I love Steve & the whole team so much! Steve is just as crazy as me, and he did an amazing job directing & producing the whole thing! I can’t wait to work with them again!
Now, what’s up with the tower of toilet paper rolls?
Ha! That was to represent in an almost sarcastic way what happened at the beginning of 2020 when people were freaking out & fighting over toilet paper!
Was it hard acting like you enjoyed licking/eating toilet paper?
I knew I wanted a very weird scene to make people cringe, something just as weird as everything that was happening in the world in 2020. So, I had the idea to make out with rolls of toilet paper.
I’ll admit that was inspired by Miley’s Wrecking Ball music video where she kisses a hammer! I grabbed a roll of toilet paper and asked my friend Nate to play some music to get me on the mood, and he goes “I HAVE THE PERFECT ONE”, he played “vulevu cushe avec moi”, and I couldn’t stop laughing! We were all cracking up in the studio! I put my face straight and started making out with the roll of toilet paper like there was no tomorrow!
Something happens to me when I’m in front of the camera, I’m so focused and into what I’m doing that I don’t care about anything else! I don’t care if people are judging me or if I’m looking ridiculous or anything like that, I’m just 100% in shooting mode! So it was easy!
Getting pushed around by both sides of a political protest looks pretty intense – how did that idea come about?
I was literally sitting on my couch in LA thinking about life, and then I had a vision of that and a vision of the tower of toilet paper scene. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just knew I had to do it!
Towards the end of the video the imagery gets even crazier, what do the flashing images and silhouettes represent?
The flashing images towards the end show photos that represent the year of 2020. Empty supermarket shelves, empty Times Square, people in an airplane wearing masks and face shields, protests and political division etc. After that, we had flashing images of the year 2030, which is the concept of my next music video coming out after this one!
Why the name “New Renaissance”?
Because it’s the movement that is about to be huge on Earth again! We are entering the New Renaissance-era after all this craze & madness!
Did you have any other crazy ideas that didn’t make it into the project?
Yes, way too many! I’m saving them for a future video though!
Do people think you’re crazy?
Probably! But it’s only a matter of time between crazy and genius!
How does it feel to have your first music video released?
I thought it was going to feel relieving like giving birth, but actually, it just gave me the drive & motivation to keep creating more and more and more! So I’m ready to work even harder & go deep for my dreams!
What’s next for Ladi Anne?
I’ll be releasing a crazy music video per month every single month for a year! I’m curious to see what’s gonna happen with this strategy – so stay tuned on my social media, especially IG @ladi.anne and YouTube of course! www.youtube.com/ladianne