FEMINIST FRIDAY: Grace VanderWaal Fighting Fear With Courage In New Music Video For ‘Clearly’

Welcome to another edition of Feminist Friday! That time of the week where we get to slide into the weekend fangirling out over our fave videos of the moment. This week we’ve got some feminist anthems to keep you hyped, as well as an awesome video showing why the future is in good hands with the next generation.

First up, the music video for artist Grace VanderWaal’s new track ‘Clearly’, which is a reimagining of Johnny Nash’s ‘I Can See Clearly Now’. You may remember Grace and her soulful, raspy vocals as she won ‘America’s Got Talent’ in 2016 and her career has really taken off since then.

Grace has been modelling professionally, signing with IMG and taking part in a Kate Spade campaign. She has also released her full-length album aptly titled ‘Just The Beginning’, and recently announced she will be touring with Imagine Dragons throughout the summer.

In the ‘Clearly’ video, we see Grace grapple with her emotions, fears and insecurities, and ultimately drawing on confidence to find her power. Complete with gospel choir background vocals, this version of the Johnny Nash classic is one you will want to play on repeat. Be sure to buy the single and Grace’s album, by clicking here.

This second video will give you all the feels, especially hope. HiHo Kids filmed illustrator Koji Minami asking a group of young kids what they thought about feminism for their ‘Kids Describe’ series, and the answers show just how much information the younger generation are already absorbing these days.

With politics and social issues being front and center on social media, in entertainment and even in our everyday conversations, it’s no surprise how switched on an attuned to the zeitgeist these kids are. Made during the month of March to celebrate Women’s History Month, there were a range of topics covered.

They talked about the Suffragette movement, Malala Yousafzai, the United States needing to elect the first female president, and whether girls are smarter than boys. Answering that question in particular, one young girl wisely replied, “everyone is smart in their own way”. So while you breathe a sigh of relief knowing the youth of today are going to be more than capable to take on the world tomorrow, take a moment to hear their thoughts about women and feminism below:

And finally this week, let’s round out this feminist-fest with a female empowerment anthem that really speaks to the time we are living in. Up-and-coming British electro pop star Elle Exxe released her track ‘Queen’ which was produced by an all-female team, according to Broadway World, and released in time for International Women’s Day.

The song was written before the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement really took off, but the meaning behind the lyrics coincided with what has been happening all over the world and shows just how powerful and important it is for women to speak up about experiences that have been hidden away in fear for so long.

“When I was writing the second verse, I remember thinking about some of my girl friends who lost their hopes and dreams at the hands of abusive men. I hope that ‘Queen’ will help empower people to take leadership over their lives and dare to dream again,” she told BWW.

The decision to work with an all-female team was deliberate, and spoke to the way the music industry has plenty of its own sexism issues to deal with, as a number of female artists have spoken about.

“I love the men I work with but it doesn’t seem right that there can be so many songs in the mainstream that are 100% created by men, and possibly 0% of songs fully created by women. I thought it’d be fascinating to hear what a 100% female track sounded like, and I wanted to raise awareness and empower the next generation of girls to get involved in every aspect of the music industry,” said Elle.

More than anything, Elle says she wants this song to be an anthem for women everywhere to know their power.

“A Queen isn’t going to cower in the corner, they’re going to demand and command. It’s an attitude and a spirit and a willingness to fight for those things,” she said. Take a listen below.


 

 

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