“Nobody wins when the family feuds.”
It’s a phrase that resonates from local to national levels, now embodied in the music video for Jay-Z‘s “Family Feud” released on Saturday, directed by Ava DuVernay and starring a powerhouse of accomplished women and men.
The video, exclusive for subscribers of the rapper’s streaming platform Tidal, shows a future in which Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé are a part of an Afrofuturistic reality in which Blue Ivy, the couple’s daughter, goes on to lead the Founding Mothers of the nation to develop a new world order.
Her leadership is followed by warriors, law enforcement, and other future world leaders in the year 2444. One, a president, recounts his family’s legacy when the death of a family member is brought into question.
When the leader recalls the year 2050, the year Blue Ivy helped rewrite the constitution, the video even snubs President Donald Trump: “She and a group of women from all walks of life revised the constitution over 444 years ago—at a time, mind you, when some thought that ‘making America great’ meant making us afraid of each other.”
In this segment, viewers see Blue Ivy, played by This Is Us’ Susan Kelechi Watson, joined by other powerful women including , Rashida Jones, , Mindy Kaling, Janet Mock, Niecy Nash, and Brie Larson. The women fight and negotiate, attempting to understand how to best approach the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms.
“Ladies, this is just like the 13th Amendment. Some people have their liberties, and some people don’t. America is a family, and the whole family should be free,” Watson tells the table. “It’s like I remember my father saying when I was a little girl: ‘Nobody wins when the family feuds.'”
On Facebook, Kaling shared a snapshot of their group promoting the video on Tidal.
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMindyKaling/photos/a.445311005510571.93434.239388882769452/1776765035698488/?type=3&theater
Since the video is behind Tidal’s paywall, viewers will need a subscription to watch. Tidal is also offering a free seven-day trial subscription for the holiday season, so you can sign up to watch the video and cancel it before the week is up.
However, you can watch a preview of the music video for “Family Feud” on YouTube in the clip below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88EB0TEGQDA