Ithaca producer and rapper Sammus recently released the video for “Time Crisis,” the fourth single from her March Infusion EP. One of the biggest appeals of Sammus’ music is her relatable reflections on gender norms and other womanist issues as they affect her. “Time Crisis” is true to Sammus’ analytical and introspective ethos, as she speaks on ageism, her body, and a patriarchal society’s constant policing of it.
Sammus notes “several”conversations about her age as a catalyst for the track. “I told younger folks that I was in my late 20s or that I was 30 only to be met with shock as though I should’ve rolled over and died the second the clock struck midnight on my birthday,” she recalls in an email. “People would often say, ‘Oh but you don’t look old’– as though 30 is old, but more importantly as though not looking 30 is something I should be extremely proud of. It made me wonder why we continue to be so incredibly ashamed of wrinkles, of signs of age and life.”
Utilizing her trademark swift, metaphor-laden flow, Sammus also delves into what it means to be a woman in a world full of people wondering why she isn’t acquiescing to what others want from her.
“So what if I don’t wanna be a mom, do that mean I gotta be alone?,” she ponders. The Vrinda Jagota and Zoloo Brown-directed visual is an endearing, craftily edited piece that shows Sammus exhibiting all of her sides, just as at home in the tub by herself as she is with friends on a stoop.
Sammus marvels that Jagota “has a great eye for capturing pretty and strange imagery.” Before filming the video, she and Jagota spoke extensively about “women, bodies, and time,” specifically how they “could capture those things in explicit and subtle ways.” The video has served to clarify the song’s messages, judging by the YouTube comments.
Sammus says that the song served as a “semi-formal” acknowledgement of her impending partnership with Don Giovanni Records on her next album.
Additionally, she used the occasion to announce a Weekend Warrior Princess Tour with Sad13, the solo project of Speedy Ortiz’ Sadie Dupuis. The dates are below:
10.27 | Ithaca, NY | The Haunt | RSVP*
10.28 | Brooklyn, NY | Alphaville | Tickets & RSVP*
10.29 | Philadelphia, PA | PhilaMOCA | Tickets & RSVP*
10.30 | Syracuse, NY | Everson Museum of Art | RSVP
11.5 – 11.6 | RetroGameCon | Syracuse, NY | Tickets & RSVP
11.19 | New Haven, CT | Cafe 9 w/ Ceschi | RSVP
