Andrekza’s Oil-Slicked Video for ‘Oro Negro’ Is a Deeply Personal Look at Crisis in Venezuela

One of the qualities that stands out most in Andrekza’s brand of indie pop and R&B is just how visual it is. The Venezuelan artist, who signed to Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak En Fuego in 2020, has released a string of vibrant videos, such as “Miedo,” which is full of neon-hued, purple-tinted scenes that could have been pulled from a Euphoria moodboard. On her new song “Oro Negro,” she ups the ante, deepening her aesthetic choices with emotive lyrics that nod at the economic and political difficulties in her home country.

“Oro Negro,” which premieres today, was produced by Edgar Vargas, who is also from Venezuela. Over a spare, dembow-influenced beat, Andrekza sings and raps about “oro negro,” or “black gold,” a reference to the South American country’s status as one of the world’s largest producers of oil. She raises the tension between Venezuela’s oil reserves and the economic mismanagement that led to a full-blown crisis in the mid-2010s, forcing many people to immigrate elsewhere. “I’m dying to go back and to have it be like yesterday,” she sings in one verse. The video includes scenes of her staring at the camera as slick black oil glides down her face.

“I feel I have a responsibility to talk about where I come from and be a voice for those who are fighting a battle with a life that they did not choose,” she said in a statement. “I am proud of us immigrants because we always know how to pick ourselves up from the very bottom.”

She created, directed, and produced the video with Lotus Visual Arts and enlisted stylistic assistance from the artist Paulina De La Paz, who goes by Poccs. Andrekza has also been using her eye for creative direction to direct music videos and photoshoots for other artists.

“Oro Negro” will be featured on her upcoming album Cassette, out on April 8. She released the EP Cassette – Lado B back in October.

From Rolling Stone US.