On January 26th, FKA Twigs announces the release of a new ethereal delight “Don’t Judge Me. ”
Featuring British rapper Headie One and produced by Fred Again, the song speaks of a lonely lover trying to find compassion in the face of a racial system, that refuses to give them the answer they’re fighting to find.
As Twigs carries her signature angelic bellow, she pleas to an absent lover saying, “Don’t judge me, be there for me / Don’t judge me, just hold me in your arms. ” The absent love that Twigs proclaims becomes overlaid with rapper Headie One’s statements on systemic racism and police brutality in the United Kingdom (“Officer, am I allowed to breathe here? I didn’t choose to be me, so why discriminate me?”) The interlacing of the two strengthens the idea that in a system that is created to oppress, love cannot be found.
The song’s visuals create a deeper meaning to “Don’t Judge Me.” Showing dancers crowded around Kara Walkers Fons Americanus, a fountain that is influenced by the Royal Buckingham fountains. The Fons Americanus rewrote the royal image, and the epic four-tiered fountain concentrates on the African diaspora as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and agents who enabled it. The fountain places a specific emphasis on the “interconnection of black history between Africa, America and Europe” and shows the cross lives of all who lived.
thank you to everyone for making don’t judge me come to life.https://t.co/9xWhJWjPuA
don’t judge me @HeadieOne FKA twigs Fred again..
directed by @emmanueladjei__ FKA twigs
featuring Fons Americanus sculpture by Kara Walker
supported by @farfetch— FKA twigs (@FKAtwigs) January 26, 2021
The song’s release comes recently after Twigs opened up about her domestic abuse. In December, Twigs filed a lawsuit against her yearlong boyfriend Shia LaBeouf.
While the song can be seen as her statement to the ongoing legal battles against LaBeouf, it can also be shown that this is one of her most vulnerable songs. With the intertwining of visuals and questioning of love and loneliness, Twigs continues to create a cold truth that offers a real reality that we all must face.
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