Jade Ang Jackman directs Gaika

The black and white visual inspired by the viral instagram profile MugShawtys sees Gaika trawl through criminal records, footage and photos in the search for his ideal accomplice. From his hideout he studies his potential new recruits and what they are capable of, watching them fight, steal and scam their way out of menacing situations. 

Jade Ang Jackman says: “Having known Gaika and his music for a while, I love how his politics is always infused with his beats. It goes without saying that it reminds me of groups like Wu-Tang Clan which feels like the most iconic union of Black and East Asian culture which relates to our respective cultural backgrounds.

Hearing Lady, it reminded me of Blade and Kill Bill so I wanted to create some larger than life characters and movement sequences that felt like a contemporary take on that fused with the trademark digital weirdness / CCTV / state surveillance edge that feels like a creative thread of Gaika's too. With bbymutha’s wicked lyrics about Harley Quinn, I really wanted to draw on that energy to craft some female villains.”

Jade Ang Jackman is an award-winning director whose work can be identified by its energetic and vibrant qualities as well as her interest in sport and action. In these realms, she seeks to collaborate with people who’ve traditionally been sidelined from these spaces. She has worked with several Olympic athletes and brands spanning from; UEFA, Channel 4, Gucci, Canon, Audible and more. Most recently, her short film, Speed of Sound, about Paralympic gold medallist Carina Edlinger, co-produced by Lammas Park, won best sports film in a prize supported by Arcteryx. In her debut narrative project, she worked with Lammas Park on a project supported by Canon to create an action-drama hybrid based on a self-defence group started by Suffragettes. Currently, she is finishing a film for UEFA and Football. Co for the Europa League. 

Newly signed to Big Dada Recordings, home to Roots Manuva, Yaya Bey, Kae Tempest, Brian Nasty and more, Gaika jumps back into music with new invigoration after delving into work as a composer to unveil his forthcoming album Drift, his most expansive work to date. The visionary invites listeners on a high-speed journey where love, pain, brutality and beauty collide to produce a vivid and provocative cinematic masterpiece. The sonic universe of Drift is the most stylistically accurate representation of Gaika's personal tastes to date, stitching musical influences past and present such as Prince, Wu Tang Clan, Massive Attack, John Coltrane, Pink Siifu and A$AP Rocky to land on a gritty, distorted sound pulsating with an unwavering, formidable energy that’s disruptive yet timeless. 

Drift is 14 tracks of nostalgic escapism, a shape-shifting body of work with hip hop and club music cultures at its core, as those simply run through the veins of Gaika. Analogue and retro in feeling, Drift’s psychedelic feel is formed by incorporating 90s grunge, dark wave, post-punk and alt-rock into its tapestry. It’s a representation of his heritage and environment, featuring calypso steel pans to gospel vocals, reverberating dub to frenetic rap and elements of sound design taken from recordings of the real world. Gaika's music transcends borders and his nomadic nature means he simultaneously belongs and doesn’t, his music cannot be confined to just one genre and this unique new record further cements him as one of the most progressive artists of our time, telling the tale of modern day renaissance man driving away from the economic hierarchy he doesn't believe in. 

Gaika endeavoured to create a waking dream by constant participation in communal art making, removing the separation between art and life, his imagination and community and breaking the boundary between real life and any spectacular representation of it. He set up a number of situational arts facilities in the heart of London including shows at ICA, 180 the Strand, Now Gallery and as the world reopened, created pop up galleries, studios, exhibitions and raves with the intention to enhance the experience of real life by dreaming. To achieve this coherently and authentically the process became akin to a form of psychological examination of memories made before music “mattered” to Gaika, before becoming commodified, individualised and his name capitalised.