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“In her directorial debut, Paola Mathé, enlists a diverse group of creatives for an ethereal music video that celebrates black women.”
(San Antonio, TX - April 21, 2020) - S.O. and headwrap company and lifestyle brand Fanm Djanm have partnered to produce the music video for the hip hop artist’s song “Headwrap Diaries.” The visual is out today, Tuesday, April 21. Fanm Djanm celebrated its sixth anniversary on April 12.
“Headwrap Diaries” which appears on S.O.’s fifth album “Augustine’s Legacy” released in September, is a heartwarming serenade to his wife Sophia and the beauty and symbolism of her hair adornments. “She looks amazing in it, so I wanted to write about my experience as a husband of a Black woman who wore headwraps,” says the Nigeria-born artist who was raised in London and moved to San Antonio in 2016. “As I started writing it, I realized that the experiences I wrote about in the song were not only my wife’s but all women who wear headwraps.
Known for his captivating music videos, S.O. wanted to capture the essence of the song and contacted Fanm Djanm founder and creative director Paola Mathé about partnering. “Our first thought was to partner with someone who understood the vision and had the same passion for the song as much as we did and we found that in Fanm Djanm,” he says. “Not only are their products amazing but what they stand for is even greater.”
Mathé, the Haiti native who launched the Austin and New York based company in 2014 and has been featured in “The New York Times,” “Essence” and “Vogue,” was immediately on board. “As soon as I heard the song, I wanted to be involved,” Mathé says. “I didn’t want Fanm Djanm to just be the sponsor. I wanted to bring the words to life. I felt like S.O. was speaking to me and maybe even my audience. It felt like an anthem, a song you play to get ready to go out. A song you play while taking a bath. A song you play while watering your plants and watching your toddler try to stuff as many dolls into one basket. A song you play to release.”
The “Headwrap Diaries” video marks Mathé’s directorial debut. It’s filled with models of all ages beautifully adoring headwraps in wonderfully styled scenes rich in color and elegance. Much of the wardrobe is provided by Studio 189, a clothing company owned by actress Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah, and features respected models Diandra Forrest, Tatiana Cooper and Aluoch Catherine as well as the song’s muse, Sophia Otukpe, who is joined by her and S.O.’s daughter Sade-Rose.
“I wanted to show all types of beauty and strength,” Mathé says. “It was important for me to show different generations, skin tones, and afro hair texture in such a beautiful, natural way.” Mathé was also happy to collaborate with other Black creatives (film crew, makeup artist, stylist) for the video. “I reached out to my brilliant friend, Al Malonga, a professional stylist and set/costume designer to join me. The clothes were provided by Black owned brands. The art was from several Black artists. Even the house we shot in belongs to a Black artist in Brooklyn.”
Having S.O.’s wife in the video was a no-brainer. “It was only right to have Sophia in the video as it was originally written for her,” S.O. says. “She was also very instrumental with the rollout of my album -- from coming up with the cover to music video concepts.” The video also reveals the gorgeous face of S.O. and Sophia’s daughter Sade Rose for the first time. “It felt like the right time,” he says. “‘You going to teach those skills to my baby’ is one of the lines in the song. So it felt organic to have her in it too. Music is a family affair.”
About S.O.
S.O.’s first recollections of rhyming date back to age six, when he rapped about his love for his grandmother at her party. As a pre-teen, he developed his craft reciting Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West” in a talent show and battle rapping with friends in secondary school. His passion evolved with the release of his 2009 mixtape “5 Solas” that created a buzz in the Christian hip hop scene and caught the ears of executives at Lamp Mode, who made him their first international signing. With Lamp Mode, he also released the trilogy “So It Begins” (2011), “So It Continues” (2012) and “So It Ends” (2015). He’s accumulated 23 million streams and received a number of accolades, including being a Premiere Gospel Award nominee (2016), Mobo Award nominee (2016), impacting the UK Official Charts and Billboard’s Heatseekers and Christian Album charts.
About Fanm Djanm
Fanm Djanm, which means "strong woman" in Haitian Kreyol, was founded in 2014 as a collection of eight headwraps, which Paola sold directly from her apartment on the weekends. Today, Fanm Djanm has transformed into a headwrap collection and lifestyle brand that serves to both empower and inspire women to live boldly. Fanm Djanm encourages women to wear a bold print, take command of a room, laugh a little too loudly, and pursue their greatest goals.
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