When London-based artist anaiis was struggling to create she looked to Nina Simone for help. Through the iconic vocalist's work she managed to find the energy to express herself, crafting a beautiful and chill-inducing soul song inspired by her idol. The video for "Nina," directed by photographer and friend Campbell Addy, is premiering above via The FADER.
Speaking to The FADER via email anaiis said: "I wrote 'Nina' at a time when I felt that a lot of the music I was hearing wasn’t reflecting what was happening in the world around me, I felt that fear had become a silencing agent and that something needed to be said. Nina Simone, who to me represents true freedom and fearlessness in art, inspired me to overcome the fears that inhibit me, so that I can be a voice for freedom through my music."
In the stylishly shot video we see anaiis, who moved to the U.K. after studying music at NYU alongside friends Arca and Gallant, on the island of Gorée in Senegal. It's in the home country of her parents that she performs the song, a delicate and melodic R&B ballad that would sound at home on A Seat At The Table.
anaiis's debut EP Before Zero is released in March.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Mathieu Bitton.