With Black History Month in full swing, New Jersey rapper Sonyae Elise's latest visual couldn't have dropped at a more fitting time. Off of her Apeshit project, the Nimi Hendrix-directed video for her bass-heavy track "RUN UP" is packed with revolutionary imagery. Donned in all black leather jackets reminiscent of the Black Panthers, Elise — with a vibrant blue afro and a rifle — poses with an ensemble of defiant, stone-faced women on an abandoned street corner.
"'RUN UP' was inspired by Pac's godmother Assata Shakur who was involved in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike and the first woman to be listed on the FBI's Most Wanted," Elise told The FADER over email. "She broke out of prison and escaped to Cuba — lady rebel shit!"
"The director Nimi Hendrix and I are both from NJ and together we felt it necessary to create a visual that exuded power and unity," she continued. "Being a black women in America right now, with this crazy election and then the Women's March, 'RUN UP' was the perfect muse to illuminate the state of emergency we exist in. This is my creative contribution to the history of the black people."
Check out the "RUN UP" video above.