'85 TO AFRICA' Album Trailer

Last week Jidenna released the album trailer for his upcoming album “85 to Africa”.  Let me first say there is some biased with my support for Jidenna as I am also a Nigerian-American (with both our fathers being from Nigeria) so we share a bit of a kinship. Watching it for the first time I couldn’t help but notice how everything was so well connected and how vivid he was with the visuals. 

The start of the trailer begins with Jidenna explaining what he was going through prior to his trip back to Africa.  He reveals his thought process leading up to his decision to relocate as somewhat of an epiphany to all Black Americans that “Africa is the only place we can truly go where Our land is Our land, and Our home is Our home”.

Jidenna uses the trailer as an opportunity to debut ‘Tribe’ & ‘Sufi Woman’, his first two singles from his forthcoming album. What I found most captivating about the trailer was how ‘on-brand’ the messaging was for Jidenna’s music and the lane he has created for himself. He walks a fine line between Nigerian heritage & culture as well as the Black American experience. Even the representative tracks he used on the trailer speak to that. 'Sufi Woman' serves more as a diaspora anthem that takes you back to old Nigerian musical sounds you heard as a kid. ‘Tribe’ on the other hand, gives you that ATL bounce vibe that makes you feel like you could break into the ‘Milly Rock’ at any second.

Overall, I love what Jidenna is doing with his visuals, presentation, and the way he continues to push the cultural blending of his diverse background. If this trailer is in fact an indicator of what’s to come, I can't wait to see what's next!