vanesssaessien
- Jun 1, 2022
- 2 min read

Exclusive: An Afrofuturistic Fashion Story Shot in Senegal Ahead of Ibaaku’s Music Video “Only Yaw”

Updated: Aug 14, 2022

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Senegalese artist, Ibaaku has released visuals focused on afrofuturistic fashion ahead of his new single "Only Yaw."

The music video "Only Yaw” ('Yaw' meaning 'You'), which is expected to be released in mid-June 2022 discusses how relationships can be fleeting. In term of lyrics, mixing English and Wolof (Senegal's most popular language), Ibaaku aimed to make an abstract love song – clashing with the dance oriented side of the music.

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The music video is a collaborative work between creative production company and label Aduna (Tokyo & Dakar) and Miziku Tey Records (Dakar) founded by Ibaaku and Alibeta.

The creative direction by Boa, was conceived from a culturally hybrid outsider attempt to play in the visual elements of the afro-futuristic realm - from the abstract love story and its visual aspects of locations - contrasting realms of the man-made modern to the natural world, casting, wardrobe, hair, makeup to the photographic direction.

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Ibaaku defines himself as a sonic poet. Senegalese born, multidisciplinary creator and cultural entrepreneur, he has been active since early 2000s on the Senegalese hip hop scene with the LZ3 collective. In 2009, he released the album "Musik Noire" with the group "Still", followed, in 2013, by the album eponymous from the group "I-Science" with reggae, soul and funk accents. From the beginning of the millennium, he composes regularly for film, television, advertising and collaborates with both young and big names in African and global hip-hop.

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He became a member of the Dakar alternative collective “Les Petites Pierres” with whom he produced several multidisciplinary events and performances in Dakar. His album "Alien Cartoon,” released in January 2016, is the result of this collaboration, notably with Designer/Film Maker Selly Raby Kane. Restless audio-explorer, today he is a rising figure in electronic music on the African continent .

Since 2020 he is also head of the Baraka Global Arts association with which he is very involved in the structuring of the Senegalese cultural sector with the launch of the Kandang platform: springboard for contemporary music from Senegal. He is also a founding member of Kenu: Lab'Oratoire des imaginaires, an art space that explores imaginaries ,social practices and traditional knowledge of the society of Ouakam his neighbourhood.

The city of Dakar, a mix of utopia and dystopia that nourishes Ibaaku's creativity - “Neo Dakar” as Ibaaku likes to call it - plays a big role in his visual imaginary and music.