Here’s a fact: the world gets better when women thrive. When our mothers, sisters, and girl friends do well, society improves. When women get involved in male-dominated industries, things change— new perspectives are seen and women feel themselves being represented.
The music industry has recently been representational of both males and females when it comes to performers. But a lot like in the film industry, it’s not just about performers. Who is behind the camera when music videos are shot? Who are the creative directors and who are the producers? Diversity in all aspects of these kinds of jobs is what makes music, TV, and movies so great.
This is why I love Drake. Yes, the rapper. For his last two music videos (“God’s Plan” and “Nice For What”) he called upon 22-year-old director Karena Evans to take charge. As a young woman in the same industry as Evans, I find it wildly impressive that such a young person is able to take on such large, expensive projects. Drake is investing in her, which is perfect considering the message of his new song “Nice For What.” The entire song is an anthem about why women don’t owe their time/effort/general nice-ness to men for any reason. At the end of the song I literally said, “Seriously. Nice for what?!” Evans’ visual style is so beautiful—the way she portrays all these women is actual art. It goes to show no matter how young you are or where you are from, talent is talent—and Karena Evans has it!
Privilege runs deeper than just writing a check to a charity! Using privilege to highlight the talents of others is something not many people choose to do. As much as funding does make a difference, nothing helps more than going directly to the source of the problem and helping out. Shouts to Drake for recognizing these issues and using his privilege to help others—and shouts to Karena Evans for killing it again!
(Image source: instagram @karenaevans)
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