Transcendent. Modern. Heartfelt.

Yasmeen’s new song  “Selfish” holds it’s own among modern pop music with its incorporation of traditionally soul music elements.

The music itself is presented at a moderate tempo (beat) with very strong rhythms to convey the meaning of the song; a meaning many of us in the younger audience will strongly relate to which is the struggle and sacrifice of reaching our dreams. Yasmeen’s vocal ability is shown right away as we are introduced to her high vocal range as she sings her first few lines acapella. This also serves as an introduction to more delicate parts of the song. It then transitions into a piano and a slow rhythm which eventually turns to the stronger and more triumphant sounding chorus.

Yasmeen’s own struggle is felt through the lyrics and musical choices that consequently resonate with our own feelings of that same struggle. We are taken through her ups and downs through the representation of the slower and faster rhythms.

If the music itself wasn’t enough to convey the message, the music video conveys the deep meaning to the song and that “pain” that the lyrics consistently mention. The video portrays a dancer who is seemingly in that process of attaining that “selfish dream”. The choices in style of dance are what seem to be contemporary and lyrical.  These dance styles represent natural lines and energy that fit perfectly with the ability to portray the meaningful lyrics and almost melancholy music.  The dance style helps explain those common themes of the song through physicality: struggle, pain, and energy.

The video’s cinematography culminates the lyrics and rhythms into a beautiful storyline. Many different stylistic choices come into making the video. One very blatant choice was to have one person in the frame of the shot, going back and forth between Yasmeen and the dancer. The way in which each person represented in the video is alone again represents the idea that we are often alone on this journey to achieve our dreams, and we may have to be “selfish”.

The celebration and success of this song are products of the alluring  music and the romantic visuals complimenting each other. It gives us a story to understand what it feels like to try and achieve our dreams and what we may sacrifice on the way to that dream. With a theme so universal it will resonate with a multitude of audiences, but especially with a younger audience who currently faces the same struggle of reaching our dreams with no “plan b” being an option.

– Anonomys Creative Mesos Contributor

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