Following the incomparable debut HEAVN, Jamila Woods returns with a new single, ‘Giovanni‘, a song so strong and inspired it practically glows. “‘Giovanni’ is a song about owning & celebrating all the parts of myself,” says Woods. “It’s about legacy and lineage, and how the love & strength of the people who made me makes me feel invincible.”
‘Giovanni’ is named for the poet, writer, activist and educator Nikki Giovanni, and is inspired by her poem “Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why).” Like Giovanni, Woods weaves past and present, and mistakes and milestones, to revere the whole self. The song opens with a woozy thrum, all low-end and breakbeat, and Woods’s crystalline alto voice dances over it with supreme confidence.
Alongside the single, Woods makes her directorial debut with a short film accompanying ‘Giovanni.’ Moving between music video and documentary, the film balances Woods’s music and imagination with an elemental, front-and-center glimpse of the prism of Black women that inspire Woods. In fact the first voice in this video is not Jamila’s but her grandmother’s, asserting plainly, “If you really want something done and done well, do it yourself.” Monologues from performance artist Po Chop, teaching artist and scholar Dominique James, former Chicago Youth Poet Laureate E’mon Lauren, hair artist Mo G, yoga instructor and youth programming director Kesha Daniels-Rush (Woods’ cousin) and author/healer Philippa Norman (Woods’s mother) reinforce that truth. The film was co-directed by Woods’ frequent collaborator Vincent Martell of the Chicago-based production company VAM Studio.
Listen below:
