Confusion reigns in Zakwe’s Sebentini

14 Nov 2017 - 12:17

Music videos are condiments to songs they are created for. Sometimes, the two don't complement each other because they don’t share a point of origin – but the visuals still enhance the impact of the music.

Zakwe wearing a crystal-studded mask in his latest video.

Cape Town-based director Kyle Lewis has been creating music videos that exist independent of the songs he is directing for – such as Cassper Nyovest’s ‘Destiny’. His latest music video is for the song ‘Sebentini’ by Zakwe featuring Cassper Nyovest and Musiholiq.

It’s not just a video, it’s an art film and its essence lies in isolating the visuals from the audio.

The first element to strike the viewer is a black background that engulfs the artists and models in an aura of mystery and confusion, making the video look like a psychological maze of imagery – all that’s missing is the Jigsaw puppet telling you “I wanna play a game”.

The mystery remains unsolved as the video introduces characters who appear to be in a perpetual state of hysteria and sometimes looking like shell-shocked soldiers – almost as if the video’s purpose is to make viewers anxious.

The masks worn by the cast amplify the anxiety and the viewer is taken to an unknown territory only to wonder what is hiding behind them. There is a theory that says humans usually reveal who they are when their faces are concealed. Irish playwright and author Oscar Wilde said it best in his essay The Critic as an Artist: “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.”

But the locus of the imagery is not entirely clear; neither is the intention. The symbolism does not relate to anything in the real world. It would perhaps be easier to understand through psychoanalysis; Sigmund Freud would have a field day deconstructing the video in relation to the director’s childhood.

The mystery of the masks and charade of white contact lenses is disturbed by a shot of a burn victim juxtaposed with a rhyme about using paraffin to fuel fires. The video rapidly mutates from abstract art to realism. Is it a shock tactic? Not a pleasant one.

In this instance it’s hard to isolate the visuals from the audio. The placement of the lyric in contrast to the scene is graphically callous.

The video combines minimalist and over-the-top, even kitsch, aesthetics that make it seem like a self-indulgent project for Lewis and his repertoire. But he deserves credit for applying conceptual elements that deviate from the standard format of hip hop videos that include half-naked models, parties, cars and bling.

But at least those elements sometimes have a comprehensive story arch, though unimaginative, that is easier to understand than the ominous nothingness of the ‘Sebentini’ video which is a chaotic poltergeist of cinematography.