Residente – This is Not America (Official Video) ft. Ibeyi

Residente recently shared this excellent audio-visual manifesto of the current state of Nuestra América. Ojo, the music video has numerous depictions of violence. The images are terrible, contradictory, and tragic. But the music and visuals are also angry, poetic, and combative. Some people have issued online political criticisms, explicitly calling out the backward visual references to Venezuelan politics that seem to support the right-wing opposition in that country. I agree in principle with that particular critique, but I still uphold the piece in general as a work of radical political art that is worth sharing. I believe this because I see Residente as a political artist, not a revolutionary. I enjoy most of his music, but his work should not be read as an example of organized liberation struggle.


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