Kendrick Lamar and SZA surprised fans on the internet after a surprise drop of their music video luther released on YouTube yesterday by acclaimed director Karena Evans.
Since its release, the film sits at 6.1 million views and counting.
The project delivers a visually compelling narrative that is founded in themes of love, Black identity, and emotional depth. Titled after Luther Vandross, the track pays homage through extended samples of his and Cheryl Lynn’s classic If This World Were Mine (1982). luther is a reflection of Evans’ signature style—hand-held camera movements, and playing with the poetic use of everyday scenes and making them dreamlike. Watching her hip-hop visuals will feel like you’re watching scenes from a movie, rather than clips from a music video.
Evans was born in Toronto and started working professionally under Director X, a prominent music video director also from Toronto. At 29 years old, she has since built an impressive portfolio—having directed visuals for large names in the industry such as:
- SZA: Garden (Say It Like Dat)
- Drake: God’s Plan, In My Feelings, Nice For What, I’m Upset
- Chlöe: Have Mercy
She’s also had her hand directing episodes on TV projects like HBO’s Gossip Girl reboot and Amazon Prime’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
She is a powerful storyteller, creating space on screen for female representation and people of color to be seen authentically.
As she told NUVO Magazine in 2019,
“Growing up and learning how to communicate stories through the music video art form, I felt discomfort with the way that women were represented. It’s always at the forefront of my mind with whatever story I get to be a part of telling—to represent women with authenticity.”
Women, and furthermore Black women, have been historically left out of large-budget hip-hop projects such as these. Evans, in many ways, opens doors for many female storytellers like myself. She represents a shift in hip-hop visual culture where women are not just muses, but creative collaborators who have the power to shape how the culture is seen. If more women were behind the camera in these spaces, what could hip-hop visuals look like in the future?
Sources:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8032591
https://magazine.shots.net/news/view/karena-evans-force-of-nature
https://nuvomagazine.com/magazine/winter-2019/the-creators-cut-karena-evans