From “Fever” – done in collaboration with Angèle – to her debut single “rules”, Dua Lipa has yet to disappoint when it comes to the music videos that come with her songs. In her new music video of her song “Love again” from the album “Future Nostalgia”, she illustrates a new, different way of portraying the cowgirl/rodeo theme.
The music video starts with a cowboy hat, levitating around corridors to finally reach a large room where Dua Lipa can be found sitting on an automated bull.
We can then see video sequences of her riding the bull-that is sometimes invisible-, and dancing- surrounded by eggs – with a team of cowboys and cowgirls whose faces are painted like clowns. Three cowboys can also be seen trying to lasso a big, levitating egg.
The music video also emphasizes color with the singer seen mixing paint in a bowl and colorful LED seen put on the electric bull and horses shown in the video as well as Dua Lipa herself.
The sequence of events in this video is confusing, but that’s also what makes its charm. Instead of giving fans a romantic music video as is expected for a song that talks about loving again, Dua Lipa gives the people a video that has nothing to do with romance at first glance. Full of beautiful outfits and intriguing, almost surrealist visuals, this video delivers an interesting follow-up to the song “Love again”.
Only one hour after the release of the music video, it has reached 462,692 views on YouTube and seems to be well received by fans of the singer.
The newly released song Montero (call me by your name) by Lil Nas X sparked both outrage and admiration with its bold approach to the biblical episode of Adam and Eve. Some people considered his video to be satanic but this is not the only aspect of his newest ventures that have gotten him accusations of Satanism. With the new release of his « Satan shoes » which sold out in less than a minute, he has gotten backlashes for the design which contains an upside-down cross, a pentagram, three six, a bible verse, and, supposedly, human blood. But despite what is shown in modern media and horror films, none of the previously mentioned characteristics are satanic symbols.
Despite the notoriety this symbol got through its use in Horror movies and games, the upside-down cross is not a symbol of Satanism. This symbol’s origin lies in Christianity, specifically the death of saint peter. The disciple of Jesus refused to be sentenced to the same death as Jesus and so requested to be crucified upside down. Since then, the Catholic church started using this cross in his honor hence why it is called the cross of Saint Peter.
Lutheran Church of Veitsiluoto, Kemi, Finland.
As for the pentagram, this symbols’ origin can be found in ancient Greece and Babylonia. One of its use was to represent the human anatomy, showing the four limbs and the head, which is a motif that will be picked up again in the renaissance era with scientists such as Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. This same scientist and occultist also popularized its use as a symbol of the five elements, fire, water, earth, and air.
Pentagram and human body.
This symbol is also associated with modern occultism where it’s the symbol of Wicca and was adopted by the satanic temple in 1966 to symbolize the triumph of earthly principle and carnal desires. This symbol was also used in many religions such as Judaism where it represented wisdom, justice, and mercy, in the Druze religion and Christianity where it once symbolized the five wounds of Jesus. The pentagram can also be found in countries’ flags such as Morocco. As such, the pentagram in and itself is not a satanic symbol but a symbol with varied uses.
Flag of Morocco.
Now for the bible verse put on the shoes and their box, here is what it says: « He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ». This biblical verse shows the fall of satan from his usurped place in heaven, the mind of man, or could be a reference to the story of satans’ creation but it is always a symbol of satans defeat. It is something for believers to rejoice in and is by no means or definition satanic, glorifying the devil or a bad omen.
As for the three 6, in the bible, this number called the number of the beast or the number of men symbolizes the system of man that is under the influence of satan being mainly false religions, the deceived false governments, and mankind’s economic system which is self-centered. As such, this number does not symbolize the devil himself but the incomplete aspect of humanity mainly being, the governmental organization present throughout the globe and money. This number also contains positive connotations in places like China. It is only in modern culture where it started gaining notoriety for being a symbol of satan.
On his shoes, Lil Nas X incorporated symbols that can be easily attributed as satanic because of the way mainstream media paint them even though their use is complex and not necessarily related to satanism and are sometimes the complete opposite of that such as the bible verse mentioned.
From Old Town Road to Holidays, Lil Nas x has been releasing a steady stream of hit songs, and now, his highly anticipated single MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name), followed by the release of his “Satan shoes”, is finally out for the word to see.
For a few months now, Lil Nas X has been teasing his fan base by showing little snippets of his song on his TikTok videos. It clearly had the desired effect as people have been dying to hear the song in its integrity.
Now that their wish is coming true, Lil Nas X did not disappoint. Throughout the song, he sings of authenticity, of a place where societal pressure can’t reach him, as he says at the beginning of the song: « In life, we hide the parts of ourselves we don’t want the world to see, We lock them away. We tell them, ‘No.’ We banish them. But here, we don’t.”
This place being well, Hell. Throughout this whole music video from kissing a snake and falling to hell on a pole, to giving the devil a lap dance, not only does Lil Nas X offer his fans a well-crafted and aesthetically pleasing narrative, but it is also his way of embracing his sexuality. According to one of his Instagram posts, this whole song and video, is a message to his younger self, the one who was afraid of ever coming out, Of being « That type of gay » and about loving . After all, considering that the song’s title is his real name, it should come as no surprise that he has an intimate connection to it.
This song is now #2 on trending on YouTube and was more than well received by his fans and fellow musicians who have been very vocal about their opinions and love for the song on Twitter. Many of them consider Lil Nas X as someone Queer black kids could look up to and be encouraged to embrace themselves.
In this new single, Lil Nas X gives us another iconic performance, paving the road to so many others, all wrapped up in a devilishly ethereal narrative and colorful aesthetic, enough to charm Eden’s snake himself.
Demi Lovato just recently released her newest song “I love me”.Considering the hype surrounding the teaser of the song released a day prior, it’s no surprise that people were eager to hear demi’s newest creation and that it ended up being currently #21 on trending. I, like any person with a healthy dose of curiosity and love for music, went and checked it out. At the end of the song, I found myself looking at the screen smiling like an idiot. This is due to many reasons.
Demi Lovato address in her newest song her insecurities,and how she’s always too harsh on herself. “’Cause I’m a black belt when I’m beating up on myself” as she put it. Despite this somehow dark theme, we don’t see the sadness in the song or the music video. Quite the contrary actually, it has a very lighthearted undertone. whether it’s the upbeat music or the delightful fight between the different sides of Demi, it’s not a dramatic song as much as it’s just someone wondering about “ when I love me is enough”.Plus, after the inner fighting, we see Demi out in the city, smiling and enjoying things around her, which only adds to that idea.
Furthermore, despite the lighthearted tone, we still don’t forget that the topic at hand is not one to be ignored as shown by the ambulance at the end of the video. Despite all of these experiences the singer goes through in the video, she is always smiling. Finally, the song’s bridge both acknowledge these insecurities and the fact that they are the product of her own imagination. “I’m my own worst critic, talk a whole lot of shit But I’m a ten out of ten, even when I forget” pretty much sums it up. Even Ariana Grande seems to think so as she tweeted “imam ten outta ten even when I forget”.
All of these aspects give us a song relatable and yet somehow light-hearted and fun. We’ve all struggled at one point in our life with our self-esteem and some of us are still struggling with loving our selves, which makes this song so relatable. Yet, Demi leaves us in a feel-good kind of mood. For us who see ourselves in her, she reminds us that we’re a ten out of ten even when we forget. That is why this new musical piece is relatable as well as strongly inspiring.
golden cult 