Atlantis Azealia BanKs ______ PROD. BY OWWWLS _____ DIR. BY FAFI

Welcome to the first analysis of this 4-part series, where I analyse four music videos as part of a research task for A2 Media Studies. My first choice: Atlantis - Azealia Banks!

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Personally, what makes this video effective, is the tongue-in-cheek and playful attitude that Azealia exudes. With various multi-dimensional visuals, it both captures the interest of the viewer and has great replay value. 

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Fafi exhibits a surreal dimension in the video in which there is a purposeful lack of verisimilitude. This displays the creativity and color of Banks’ character. As Banks leads us through this euphoric episode, we see how Fafi implements a bright aquatic palette to present an alluring, serene yet uptempo seapunk adventure. With the upbeat track, comes appropriately fast-paced cuts, which in conjunction with the zany visuals, works to compliment the experience.

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Banks’ is displayed as both the star in the video and in life. Through the multitude of closeups and the fact that the whole video is a Banks-seapunk fusion, viewers get a sense of her character: bold, colourful and lively. This presents a likeable and relatable character, especially for millennials (internet connoisseurs), which helps to construct Banks’ image as a star.

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There is no real narrative to the video, however Banks’ message can be summed up in a few statements: 1. She is the Queen. 2. Haters begone. 3. Watch out for her.

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At first glance, the video seems to be almost a complete disjuncture from the lyrics, with the only relevance being the title “Atlantis”. However, it would be not be inaccurate to also call it an amplification of the lyrics, as Banks’ confrontational yet zesty lyrical attitude as the “Jupiter queen”, is also presented visually through images of Banks holding a trident and sitting upon a throne and riding sharks and dolphins. Although the video is seemingly random, it is purposefully and eccentrically sporadic, as Fafi intended, to highlight Banks’ enjoyable effervescence and vivacity.

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Fafi presents the mood of the video as upbeat, fun and full of zest, yet throughout the video we are splashed with Banks’ menacing and kooky attitude. Its tone is confrontational - Banks’ beef with Zombelle - but still Azealia knows that it’s all for fun.

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Behind the track, lies Banks’ feud with Tumblr-savant and singer, Zombelle, whom Banks has said to have ignored and subtweeted on Twitter surrounding the definition and limits of “seapunk”. Banks then goes on to release the “Atlantis” video, much to Zombelle’s distaste, as she says “riding a dolphin is not seapunk”. Banks then verifies that in the song, she is telling her ‘haters’ to ‘wave’ instead of hating and “go under” like the mythical Atlantis did. In the track, Banks also likens herself to a goddess, a “Jupiter queen”, which relates to the Plato’s myth of Atlantis and the myth’s theme of God vs. Man. Azealia is no stranger to Greco-Roman classics or mythology, and so the titular “Atlantis”, brings with it, themes like Utopia, corruption of human society and: God vs Man. The people of the glorious and materialistic Atlantis had become “morally bankrupt” and were thus punished by the Gods through earthquakes and turmoil sinking the island. And so by this, Banks comments on Zombelle’s inferiority and how she has “been running [her] mouth / all loud, and wide and free as this island (Atlantis)…”, and condemns her to musical and aquatic shame, if she does not choose the friendlier option. 

The video itself reflects both the track’s and titular myth’s backstory, through it’s sass, apparent aquatic theme and sheer abnormality. 

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In the video, Fafi implements the ‘seapunk’ aesthetic: “a subculture that originated on Tumblr in 2011. It is often associated with an aquatic-themed style of fashion, 3D net art, iconography, and allusions to popular culture of the 1990s”. This works well with Azealia’s exuberant outfits and turquoise-emerald hair. The OWWWLS-produced beat introduces us to a hip-house-ghettotech hybrid, ultimately presenting an eccentric, upbeat and tumblr-esque experience.

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Watch the video here!