Get To Know Jidenna, The Next Big Thing In A Fly-Ass Suit
“I don’t want my best dressed day in a casket” – Jidenna
I feel I should start by saying that I appreciate any song with an atypical format. I haven’t liked a single song this much since “All Gold Everything,” but that’s only because I haven’t heard a memorable single verse song since that one. Too many songs relying on a hook rather than maximizing verse real estate is the chief reason old heads say Hip Hop is dead, and millennials are more excited about We Are Your Friends than Straight Outta Compton.
Long Live The Chief
Love it or hate it, at least the lyrics to “Long Live the Chief” aren’t going to be connected to a national embarrassment. Any old white lady spitting lines from this song will get famous for the right reasons.
Dapper Rapper
Well dressed and well spoken rapper, Jidenna has partnered with Vevo to release a music video for a brand new release called “Long Live the Chief.” It’s dope. This is good because as the first artist from Wondaland Records not named Janelle Monae to be given a significant push, it’s better for everyone involved if everything is as dope as possible.
Jidenna’s first single, “Classic Man,” was a perfectly suitable track that proved popular enough with over 4M YouTube views to date, but it was obviously intended for the pop radio crowd given that it sounds like a remix of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy”. “Long Live the Chief” is different in both sound and presentation.
A True Artist
The video for “Long Live the Chief” is a simple but dynamic live performance. It’s Jidenna, Jidenna’s DJ, Jidenna’s fly ass suit, and few well placed cameras that switch just quickly enough to keep things kinetic without causing motion sickness. I don’t think I’ve seen a guy in a suit that colorful since Puff Daddy and Mase in the shiny suit era back in ‘97. “Long Life the Chief” is a far cry from that pseudo-gangster, jiggy madness we so fondly remember, however. Jidenna speaks with gravitas. He has a sense of purpose worn on his voice as effortless as those fly suits on his back. “Long Live the Chief” is a song that demands attention and Jidenna proves himself an artist that deserves it.