MRA is at turns both a call for compassion and to action, as much about EMEL using her voice as it is a rallying cry for her fellow women to do so freely. Released on International Women’s Day, ‘Nar’ (meaning ‘fire’ in Arabic) is no exception. “It’s about taking back control of our lives, our narrative, our color, our speech. We are building an army to reclaim women’s voices,” EMEL says.

The single and its accompanying video — directed by Inès Saidi, produced by Deena Abderrahim of Film DNA, and filmed on location at an old, women-operated textile factory in Cairo, Egypt and a village in the outskirts of Bamako, Mali — both speak to female revolutionary power. Saidi explains, “This power is not only embodied in the music video by the strength of the women depicted, but also by an unprecedented collaboration of African women, one from Tunisia, the other from Mali. The decision to shoot the video in Africa stems from a desire to reclaim Africanness while moving away from the exoticism to which African cultures are generally confined.”

The post EMEL honors female revolutionary power on new single/video ‘Nar’ ft. Ami Yerewolo appeared first on She Makes Music.