Entertainment
Beyonce’s Love Draught Video Reminisces Igbo Landing
Beyonce
It is one of the many strik
ing images from Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ visual album. The scene (from the love draught video) showcases a procession of black women walking into an ocean as if -they are about to drown themselves willingly.
The video draws inspiration from a slave time story popularly known as the “Igbo Landing” which is the story of Igbos who were brought to America to be slaves but vowed to drown themselves rather than be slaves in foreign land. Here is the full story of the ‘Igbo Landing’ via Wikipedia.
“In May 1803, a ship load of captives from West Africa upon arriving the middle passage were landed by American paid captors in Savannah by slave ship to be auctioned off at one of the local slave markets. The ship enslaved passengers included a member of Igbo people from what is now known as Nigeria.
The Igbos were known by planters and slavers of American south for being fiercely independent and resistant to chattel slavery. The group of 75 Igbo slaves were brought by agent of John Couper and Thomas Spalding for forced labour in their plantations in St. Simon’s Island for $100 each.
The chained slaves were packed under the deck of a small vessel named the Schooner York to be shipped to the island.
(Other sources say the voyage took place aboard the morovia). During this voyage, the Igbo slaves rose up in rebellion, taking control of the ship and drowning their captors in the process causing the grounding of the Morovia in Dubar creek at the site now locally known as “Igo Landing”.
According to the historical account, under the direction of a high Igbo chief, they all walked in unison into the creek singing in Igbo language “the water spirit brought us, the water spirit will take us home”. They would rather accept the protection of Chukwu than end up in chains. Pretty remarkable story, and in parts of south Carolina and Georgia, this story still holds true and the ground where the slaves drowned themselves is a historical land mark.
The entire video is set in a Marhy Swampy landscape which is very reminiscent of what the shores of slave landing will be like and in addition, there is a lot of random imagery that points to the slave trade and landings. One of them is seeing Beyonce physically bound in ropes and trying to resist the pulling.
This is not the only African inspired theme in the album, Nigerian designer Amaka Osakwe is credited with designing some of the outfits Beyounce wore in some videos in the album. In addition, Beyonce featured famed novelist Chimamanda Adichie in her 2013 hit single “Flawless”
Source Naij.Com
R&B star, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has recounted the early-career challenges she faced, revealing that she was once booed out of the stage while performing at a school event.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmen, the Crazy Tings crooner shared that she wasn’t only booed but was also harassed with plastic bottles.
“I remember one time I was going to perform at my school as an up-and-coming singer and I thought I was going to receiving a standing ovation.
“But I got booed. They even threw plastic bottles at me,” she recalled.
Tems explained that despite the embarrassing incident and other such rejections, she remained determined to pursue a career in music.
The Tide Entertainment reports that Tems admitted that some of the initial rejections she faced could be due to her conviction to stick to her originality instead of doing covers or familiar sounds like most of her peers.
The Grammy-winning singer said looking back now, she is glad that she didn’t compromise her style despite the initial pressures.
A close associate of late singer Mohbad, Primeboy, has appealed for the artiste’s burial nearly three years after his death.
According to him, Mohbad’s body remains in the mortuary since September 12, 2023, pending burial arrangements.
The Tide Entertainment reports that in a statement Primeboy urged the family, public, and government to permit the burial, stating, “It’s been almost three years since Mohbad left us. His body is still in the mortuary. I’m begging the family, I’m begging the public, I’m begging the government, please let’s bury our brother. He deserves a befitting burial.”
It would be recalled that Mohbad’s death sparked public outrage, protests, and investigations. Ongoing autopsy examinations, police inquiries, and legal proceedings have delayed burial arrangements amid family disagreements and public scrutiny.