Little Blackbird video, a cinematic experience for my fans – Singer, Uchechi Emelonye

Uchechi Emelonye has explained that the “Little BlackBird” single she released few months ago is a song about her experience as a black girl in a white-dominated environment.

The song’s video which was recently shot by Sesan, a seasoned and sought-after music video director promises to be a cinematic experience for Emelonye’s fans as it is already gaining massive airplay in Nigeria and beyond.

“Fans should expect a cinematic experience that will leave them feeling emotions they did not know they had. Anyone who watches the video is either a BlackBird themselves or cares for and has a BlackBird in their life. Therefore, they should expect to resonate with the lyrics and the visuals. It details a vivid story with many interconnecting themes and characters. The Grandma telling the story of the Little BlackBird represents all the generations that gave us life before, the little girl who grows up to do what she wants despite the adversity represents all of us in the present trying to achieve our dreams in the world today. Finally, all the amazing women presented on the wall represent the infinite prospects of what we can achieve.”

Uchechi Emelonye, the daughter of a UN diplomat had lived across six countries on three continents, including Macedonia, where her family was the only black people in the country and she was the only black girl in class. “Little BlackBird,” she avowed, not only expresses her experience “but [also] the experience of other beautiful black girls I had come across.”

According to her: “Growing up in a few white-dominated spaces, I had realised that my race was a big part of who I was. I started having more conversations about this and realised I was not the only one who felt this way and even if we had varying degrees of experiences the unifying message is that we should always love who we are.”

The singer, a law student at Lancaster University, United Kingdom, also disclosed the song’s creative writing process.

“To write the chorus probably took me a few minutes. The verse, on the other hand, took about two years. I always went back to the song to refine and change things. When I got the opportunity to work with my producers, they made me start from scratch. So, with the help of my older brother, my friends and my experience, we managed to write it in a night,” she recounted.

“Little BlackBird,” she avowed, is just the tip of an iceberg.

“Fans should expect more music that they can enjoy and relate to. I have many projects waiting to be brought to life, and hopefully, some collaborations. Fans should expect to be taken on a journey because this is just the beginning,” she stated.

On what makes her different as an artiste, Uchechi Emelonye says, “The fact that I’m not trying to be anyone else, I am forging my path and trying to make my own genre in the industry. It helps that I have been exposed globally, living in multiple countries and experiencing many cultures. Therefore, I’ve interacted with different genres of music that I plan to combine with the African sound that I was born into. I also think what makes me unique is what I write my songs about, which is the authentic human experience. My goal is for my music to help people get through things, express themselves, change their mood and be the gift in their life as it was in mine.”