JPEGMAFIA

JPEGMAFIA gave a fierce and powerful performance of Busted, a song written by Harlan Howard and released by Ray Charles, to raise awareness for the ‘No Poverty’ United Nations Global Goal. The words, speaking directly to economic troubles, were recited by the American rapper who knows the reality of some of the poorest states in the USA and who’s own lyrics savage right-wing ideology. Whilst heading up the video department at Dazed and Confused Magazine Bec built on the format pioneered by Mykki Blanco’s performance of I Want a Dyke for President and created a series called Texts for The United Nation’s Global Goals in partnership with #TOGETHERBAND. The series saw various cultural icons repurposing song lyrics, poetry and even court testimonies for a straight to camera performance. These videos were made on the fly, with many different collaborators, wherever the team could get to. Wherever teams aligned talent were brought together with a global goal which spoke to their values, and the perfect text for that goal. The performances required talent to step out of their comfort zone and perform for a production without the full works of costume and production design producing a vulnerability, authenticity and a DIY aesthetic.