“You gotta free them lives, or there is no hope.”
This week Alia Zin’s #WiccanWednesday release came in the form of “Raise the Dead,” which is her first official music video and produced by PakkMusic Group. Alia starts off the video calm, talking to some friends outside of a party. The chill and lowkey party vibe is set when a friend lights some rolling papers (contents unknown) over a small caldron. Alia chants:
Gotta free your mind, come and free your soul. You know that freedom lies where there is hope.
And if I am not mistaken, the video appears to have been shot at Alia’s apartment in Long Beach; I recognize the tiled floor and the steps out front from when I visited her there in May to do an interview. The song and video then come together to reinforce what I already relate to about Zin: she does rituals like burning things, smoking things and writing to mentally and emotionally process the sick injustices of her world.
I raise the dead with a microphone in my right hand. Becky better leave the sun, she might get a nice tan. Niggas hate on melanin they like they bitches light skinned. Kinda like the master, now it’s funny how we like them.
The second half of the video adds more visual intrigue as Zin really gets into it. Amidst darkness her glowing eyes resemble some sort of night crawler — a wolf, witch, or perhaps even a zombie. With all the realities that she touches on in the second verse–from constantly being underestimated to being maddened that mothers continue having to huddle around their black sons’ caskets–it’s easy to understand why she might feel like a zombie in need of freedom. Regardless of your style preferences, , the song and video do a good job of illustrating her spiritual and moral identity.
Check out the video below, and follow Alia Zin’s Soundcloud to keep-up with all of her #WiccanWednesday releases.
Feature image courtesy Miss Lopez Media