Following the release of 2014’s Metallic Butterfly, Destiny Frasqueri has retired her Princess Nokia moniker in favor of performing under her own name. While the drum n bass and jungle inspired Metallic Butterfly found Destiny inhabiting the personalities of “clever hacker girl, fearless cyborg, spiritual earthen goddess, indigenous woman,” her new music seems to focus on the final two identities. The first preview of her eponymous project is a video titled “Soul Train.” The vibe most closely resembles that of “Young Girls,” the third and final video from Metallic Butterfly which shows a group of women and children living in nature.
“Soul Train” brings this community out of the woods and into the streets. Directed by Asli Baykal, Destiny and friends come together and boogie in the name of unity.
Destiny explained to Dazed,
To me, this is a video of Black revolution. In a time of racism, it’s for the Black and Latino communities in America, and it was created to honour the lifestyles that cultivated our culture and the positive and artistic outlets that healed us in hard times.
Disco is something that I embody not just through my style and appreciating seventies culture, but through love and practice. This video has a lot of scenes of me dancing the Latin Hustle, a popular dance the neighbourhood kids used to be into at that time and I find the organic beauty of it all so refreshing. Back then, the youth were inspired by political activist groups such as The Young Lords Party, The Black Panthers and The Ghetto Brothers and this video revolves around these ideas. We just want to fight the good fight, dance and celebrate.
Read our cover story on Destiny, “A Walk Through Zion with Princess Nokia.”
Destiny will be performing on August 8 at #OFFBRAND, our all-ages summer bash! More information about that over here.
