VIDEO / SPUDDS MACKENZIE
MUSIC PRODUCER / MIGHTY MARK
PHOTOS + STYLING / ROSE DIFERDINANDO
STYLING ASSISTANT /IAN ANDREWS
HAIR / POPNGLOSS
MAKEUP /AMBER WILLIAMS + SIOBHAN BECKETT
NAILS / CURETNAILS
STORY / ANGIE PICCIRILLO
Her name may not be a household one just yet — but TT The Artist has been here this whole time as our actual queen of Hip hop. Though others have tried to claim the crown, one listen to her newest release and one glance at the video for “Payroll” (ft. Starrz) will have you wondering why we ever even questioned her royalty.
Back in 2010, The Artist first turned heads when she opened for Phantogram and other popular acts — with her delicate mixture of hip hop, club music and EDM, her tracks are ones not to be forgotten. With this track, it has an interesting girl-guy lyrical response between The Artist and featured rapper Starrz. The neon futuristic video is like an art film on it’s night out on the town — imagine “The Neon Demon” gone clubbing. But the meaning behind the video, is much more thought out — according to The Artist.
“Payroll is all about women owning their boss moves. From how a woman places herself in a relationship or how she demands to be valued in her workplace, the song is an all-call for respecting her hustle. I wanted the video to be a play on sci-fantasy meets hip hop. I have always been a fan of movies like The 5th Element, Star Wars, Alien etc. — so I wanted to step out of the box and do something that was fresh and different from what you would normally see in a hip hop music video,” she says.
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