Rapsody has returned with her new album Eve, which salutes historic African-American women in history. The album brings J. Cole, Queen Latifah, J.I.D., GZA, D’Angelo and more to the effort.
The album features “NINA,” which is the first self-directed video for Rapsody.
“One of my favorite quotes from Nina Simone is, ‘An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times.’ That’s where I wanted to start. …That song [‘Strange Fruit,’ which the track samples], and particularly Nina Simone, says a lot about who I am, why I make the music that I make and what I want my legacy to be. That’s why I started there,” Rapsody said to NPR.
“NINA” follows the album’s first music video “IBTIHAJ,” which was directed by Jay Scorsese and co-directed by Misa Hylton and features appearances from GZA, Mary J. Blige, and Roxanne Shanté, while paying homage to Ibtihaj Muhammad. Mohammad is a member of the United States national fencing team, and also is the first Muslim American woman to wear a hijab while competing for the US in the Olympics in 2016.
In addition to Muhammed and Simone, Rapsody paid tribute to Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, Ibtihaj Muhammad and Sojourner Truth and more.
You will also be able to catch Rapsody on tour this fall when she joints Big K.R.I.T. on his From the South With Love Tour. You can check out the full dates for the show below.
