Image: Michaela Vujovic 

Long-time member of Western Sydney-based House of Slé, Jamaica flexes her performance muscle on Stereogamous-produced ‘Just Like This’. Check its dangerously hot vid here, first.

A gender fluid descendant of Māori (Ngāpuhi/Tainui) and Samoan lineage, Jamaica’s past work has put sexuality and heritage front and centre. ‘Just Like This’ is no different.

Fluidity really is the name of the game here, for both the track itself and its spicy as fuck video. Liquid bass oozes as toned bodies writhe under a hot pink hue. In the bedroom, a fluent Jamaica starts at the hook while a cadré of sisters (including iconic House of Slé Mother Bhenji Ra) back up every ferocious bar: I would never back down if you came for my sis / and if you feel a little pressure, that’s my fist. Ooft.

A whirlwind of excess ensues as elaborate styling cedes the floor to beautiful unadorned Black and Brown bodies – Jamaica projecting magnetic confidence through every aesthetic phase.

Fierce is an overused and often misapplied term, but here it’s beyond appropriate. The slow menace of the production plays the perfect accompaniment to Jamaica’s pointed and utterly conspicuous celebration of identity and community. On the surface, the video recycles a classic hip-hop vid story arc: squad pre’s -> the limo -> the club. But in this context, performed with the singular bravado of this artist, the rap vid tropes take on renewed currency. ‘Just Like This‘ is a radical reclamation of space – an encroachment on territory traditionally patrolled by the hyper-masculine and the homophobic. And it’s sexy as hell, get it.

Directed by Jamaica Moana, Bhenji Ra, Radge Ratsaphong
Cameras: Cem Hizli
Editing: Andrea Chen
Styling: Michaela Vujovic
Colour grading: Scott Stirling
Makeup: Devonne Hilvano
Hair: Mat Hornby, Kalotina Amperidis

And get ‘Just Like This’ into yr Spotify playlists here.