In today’s age we have the ability to voice our opinions and our concerns openly without fear of recourse. Many of the greats in the history of music have used the platform and their influence to draw attention to many issues around the world. Genre-bending musician Kinnie Starr follows in the footsteps of those before her and uses her voice to raise awareness. Her song ‘Vendetta’ from the 2018 album, ‘Feed The Fire’ is a great example of this, calling out our reliance on technology and social media and how it is changing who we are. In 2020, she released a retro-futuristic professional lyric video for the R&B track that has us warping back through time.
Kinnie Starr is a Juno Award winning Canadian artist. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, this trilingual star has shaken things up in the music industry since the 90s. Starr began her red carpet career after signing to Island/Def Jam Records in 1997. She has appeared on the popular Lilith Fair tour and even has sang in Cirque du Soleil productions. In 2011, Starr was honoured as a Pioneer in Canadian Hip Hop Culture by the ManifesTO Festival and has a resume of working with other Canadian artists such as Moka Only (Swollen Members) and Tegan Quin (Tegan and Sara). She is a true multidisciplinary artist, merging her ability to play multiple instruments and combine all genres of music. Her career in the music industry has been fueled by her activism for human rights including gender equality and indigenous rights which is a subject that is close to home as Starr herself is of Mohawk roots.
In 2015, Starr was in a serious car accident that left her with a severe brain injury and has substantially hindered her ability to play music. Fearless as she is, she has been able to overcome her struggles and in 2018 released a very personal and self-reflective album titled ‘Feed The Fire’. This album features Starr’s trademark spoken-word poetry and is evident that this influential artist has something to say. Potentially one of my favourites on this album would be the 6th track, ‘Vendetta’. This song is an eye-opener and reflects Starr’s thoughts on life being taken over by technology. With an electro hip hop style, she unearths the argument of fake online personas and social media’s inevitable death of society. Starr gives insight on her lyrics and says “Vendetta is a song about the nature of false communication, personal or political, which are often the same”.
Kinnie Starr released her trip-hop track ‘Vendetta’ and as she is no stranger to professionally produced videos, paired up this politically-charged tune with a very high-quality retro lyric video in February of 2020. I absolutely love this video as it brings me way back to my childhood and reminds me of the 80s and 90s VHS movies that I used to watch. It is an amazing visual depiction of retro-futurism and really represents the theme of the song. The single cover artwork was a clear influence for this lyric video as it features multi-coloured lasers and space-aged luminescent shapes.
I love the creative choices, especially for the title introduction. Instead of simply displaying the artist’s name and song title, they have it glitching in and out of view which really sets the mood for the viewers. Also, the nostalgic font choice is simple yet effective in bringing the whole concept together without taking too much attention away from the stunning retro synthwave color palette while still being able to read along. The text is just slightly out of focus, causing a subtle fuzz that is an exact replica of what would appear on the screen of the old fashioned Trinitron. This lyric video is so fitting to the theme of the song being about the rise of technology and what might lie ahead for civilization.
Kinnie Starr is a seasoned artist with such a wide range of abilities including her vocal abilities, profound lyrics and humanitarian activism. I applaud those who use their notoriety for a good cause and to try and change our world for the better. Her song ‘Vendetta’ is impactful in this way and the lyric video is truly out of this world. The creative techniques used to take the fans back in time is extremely unique and like most professional lyric videos, is an exceptional representation of the theme of the song.
Check out this retro lyric video ‘Vendetta‘ on Kinnie Starr’s YouTube channel here: