Earlier this month, gal-dem premiered Halima and Paper Son’s summer jam ‘Hot Spice’ and once more, with another release, Halima is proving just how much she can bring to the table.
Learning to love yourself while navigating romantic love is an arduous and constant process that most people grapple with at some point. Pick any popular rom-com and more likely than not, the happy ending involves the protagonist finally getting validation from their one true love as opposed to fostering a sense of self-worth. The two are not mutually exclusive, but modern narratives of love often make it seem as such.
Speaking on this, since moving to New York City from London, Halima has grown in more ways than one. ‘Know Your Worth’ is her first single and the equally stunning video provides a visual to this story of growth, empowerment and self-love, all relatable themes for women growing into themselves. The British-Nigerian artist’s debut video is a testimony to the power of recognising and admitting your self-worth, especially when a fuckboy tries to get you to think otherwise. During the video, we see the familiar narrative of a young woman discovering her partner is trash, only to find clarity within herself and gradually learning her worth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWSWAusSEBg
True to this message, Emily Gurland, in the director’s statement revealed, “It was important to our entire production team that this was not only a kickass music video, but also a message to young women in recognising their own value when they feel no one else will.”
“I mainly wanted to collaborate with filmmakers to create a short film from how they interpreted it visually,” Halima says. Colours in particular play a major role in how the video is interpreted and when asked to elaborate on the intention behind certain palettes, Halima alluded to the subtle association of purple with strength and yellow with nature. Crediting her director and director of photography, Emily Garland and Nina Gofur respectively, she describes the power of colours to emphasise the emotions of each frame and symbiotic relationship between music and visuals. In her words, “Music without visuals feels almost lifeless” and in this sense, ‘Know Your Worth”s visual poignantly brings her music to life. Similarly, Halima herself originally began exploring the arts through theatre in drama school before translating her vision into music too. While her music is now her preferred medium of expression, she still dabbles in photography and performance and it is this same multimedia outlook that informs her work.
Citing her own journey to self-worth, Halima uses heartbreak to illustrate the hurt and devaluation that women are often subjected in relationships. While having not experienced that particular situation herself, this metaphor still captures the essence of knowing your worth. “Knowing my purpose and my role has really helped because then I won’t question it based on somebody else’s journey”, and of course, although this is not a linear process, Halima acknowledges self-reflection as an integral part of not losing yourself.
At the end of the video, watching Halima taking herself out to get pizza, says it all. You can be alone and not lonely and ‘Know Your Worth’.
Check out Halima’s Soundcloud for more.
