If there is one description that can be used for the music Cen’C Love makes for her fans, the description would be ‘thought provoking’ which is exactly what the Jazz fused Reggae musician accomplishes in her latest song and video entitled “There Lies.” Visually profound, every frame has a meaning beyond the obvious.
The opening shot sees a young man sleeping in a chair while a newscaster shares news about the unemployment rate being on the rise (which is a lie). The video goes on to show Cen’C made up in tribal make-up, with hair replicating lush foliage; leading viewers to see her face and hair as that of the earth, an earth we can trust and believe. Viewers are transitioned from the true word to a scene from a bar where several women vie for the attention of a ‘money man.’
Articulating her point of another lie, Cen’C exposes the falsehood presented in women thinking they need a man with money to complete them. Peeling away another layer, Cen’C tackles the misconception that women need to bleach their skin to become more appealing in complexion, or wear weave or false eyelashes. These things, the artist suggests is not where beauty lies.
“When we watch the tel-lie-vision, we are told that lighter skin, weave and false nails and eyelashes are the ways in which we define beauty and this is not true. We need to celebrate the beauty found in dark skin, short hair and beautiful eyes. Beauty is not what they tell us, it’s who we are.”
The video’s director and editor, Cen’C’s talented brother Asadenaki decided to accentuate the extent of the lies being told and believed, by including a scene of school aged girls who believe that bleaching is the answer, and encourage another girl to look the same way they do. The girl, played by Pulse model, Rochelle Notice, stands up to the pressure, and walks with confidence in her beauty. Only to fall under the negative influences later as a young woman.
“Our kids are watching what we do,” said Asadenaki. “We have to teach the kids that all colors are beautiful.” Previews of the video have been called a directorial, cinematic and acting hit which could be entered as a short film for its creativity.
“These Lies” comes from Cen’C Love’s album Love Letter which was released on the Lyvestone Music Label. The album is available on iTunes and all digital retail outlets and is available for fans to see online at Cen’C Love's YouTube Channel: CenCLoveMusic. Fans can also view the video by clicking on the YouTube screen shot below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMgJnu94GiI
About Cen’C Love:
Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Fashion Designer, Visual Artist, Cen’C Love is a 21stcentury renaissance woman. Born in America to Caribbean parents, a Jamaican dad and Grenadian mom, Cen’C Love was raised between Kingston, New York and Atlanta. Her early school years in Jamaica grounded her in her father’s culture and exposed her to the roots of Rastafari and Reggae music.
Cen’C Love has the sultry voice and soulful sounds of a Billie Holiday, the musicianship of Laure Hill and the word wit of Jill Scott. None of this should be surprising since Cen’C is the prodigy of the illustrious “Wailers” family of Reggae and the daughter of founding member of the acclaimed group, Neville Livingston, a.k.a. Bunny Wailer.
Her debut album, LOVE LETTER, on the Lyvestone Music label, is a musical journey through the myriad landscapes of Love. Her message is poignant and inspiring in songs like PARADISE and HEY YOU, stripping away the fear of baring our souls to love.
The Wailers’ legacy becomes clearly apparent in Cen’C’s socially conscious songs such as CYSTEM, which describes the Babylon matrix control system and THESE LIES, about low self esteem and the resulting obsessions with materialism and artificial identities.
Cen’C has performed in Jamaica, Atlanta, St Croix, Los Angeles New York and Amsterdam. In Atlanta at the 2008 Natural Hair Show, at the Centennial Park Wednesday Wind-down in July 2008 and again in August 2010, she performed for very appreciative audiences. She appeared at the Cannabis Cupin Amsterdam 2008 and at the Reggae Awards in New York in the spring of 2009.
Since the launch of her album LOVE LETTER in February 2011, Cen’C, whose name means ‘the highest grade,’ has been based in Kingston, Jamaica, promoting her album. The first single, CASANOVA, peaked at #6 on the Reggae Singles Chart. She has had numerous radio and television appearances including ‘The Entertainment Buzz’ on IRIE FM, Smile Jamaica on TVJ, HYPE TV’s Video Countdown and A Fe We Choice Music Countdown. Her print media features include the Jamaican Gleaner, Star, Observer, and High Times magazine. She is a favorite of internet radio shows, magazines and blogs.
Cen’C has been actively polishing her talents on local stages with performances at Spring Break, Negril Escape’s One Love Concert Series, Sumfest, and Capleton’s A St. Mary Mi Come From. With her new band, Love Express, Cen’C has been playing her part in the recent resurgence of live Reggae shows around Jamaica at Jonkonoo Lounge’s Plug and Play, Redbones Cabaret Series, Breadbasket Poetry Festival at Taino Cove, Treasure Beach, Jamnesia and Wicky Wacky in Bull Bay and Isis’ Conscious Reggae Party Series. She shuns tracks, preferring to perform acoustic sets with her brother Asadenaki on drums if her band is not accommodated.
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