Ibeyi joined Brazilian rapper Emicida to record a beautiful collaborative track titled ‘Hacia El Amor’. Accompanying the track is a captivating music video, for which the two artists gathered in Paris to record. Watch below!
Directed by Christian Beuchet, the video illustrates the plural lyrics that promote the breaking of barriers, bringing the artists into a shed covered with graffiti and filled with people, dancing and celebrating the ancestral feeling that unites us all: love.
Singing in English and Portuguese plus with Emicida rhyming for the first time in Spanish, the song reveals a lesson of African tradition, promoting a trip to the spiritual world, Orum, visiting the orixás deities, from Xango to Exú.
Produced by Márcio Arantes and co-written by Emicida, Ibeyi, Márcio and the twins mother Maya Dagnino, ‘Hacia El Amor’ unites the signature sound of both artists using African ancestral drums mixed with modern electronic beats topped with lyrics of love and equality.
Arantes explains, “I identified something in common between Ibeyi and Emicida, that became the backbone of the music. It was through black ancestry that this happened: we used a rhythmic pattern that exists in both the Brazilian candomblé and the Cuban santeria (country of origin of the girls) and it was this element that not only the whole arrangement was created but also what inspired the entire song, seeing the common thread between all of us.”
The desire of a collaboration came when Ibeyi were introduced to Emicida’s work by a Brazilian friend. Lisa-Kaindé explains, “Sometimes you meet an artist and you don’t know how or why, but they instantly become a part of your creative family.” Naomi, who is known for incorporating hip hop elements and beats into Ibeyi’s music, explains further: “We love hip-hop so I’ve always wanted to work with rappers and when we heard Emicida’s music we knew he’d be a great collaborator for Ibeyi.”
Stream / purchase ‘Hacia El Amor’: https://ibeyi.lnk.to/HaciaElAmor
