Don't Judge Me
by FKA Twigs (featuring Headie One)

Album: single release only (2021)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In 2020 FKA Twigs lent her vocals to "Judge Me (Interlude)," a track from drill rapper Headie One and English producer Fred Again's joint mixtape, Gang. The three artists later expanded the airy interlude into a full-fledged track and dropped "Don't Judge Me" as a single on January 26, 2021.
  • The song starts off with Twigs' plea to her beau that they should center their relationship on love and acceptance. Headie then shares his experience of being a black man in Britain, recounting the many times when he's been judged because of the color of his skin.
  • Fred Again (real name Fred Gibson) supplied the automated dancehall beat. Gibson frequently works with Ed Sheeran; their collaborations include "I Don't Care," "Beautiful People" and "Afterglow." He has also hooked up with Stormzy ("Own It") and AJ Tracey ("West Ten").
  • FKA Twigs co-directed the video with Emmanuel Adjei, who previously worked with the likes of Beyoncé and Madonna. The clip highlights anguished Black models and dancers encircling visual artist Kara Walker's Fons Americanus. The fountain, located at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, contains allegorical motifs referencing the suffering endured by Black people from Africa, America and Europe, particularly pertaining to the transatlantic slave trade.

    Adjei said: "In this audio-visual document we get to witness artists FKA Twigs and Headie One, amongst other Black British influentials, fighting against invisible forces of judgment and oppression. Having the enormous Victorian-inspired fountain Fons Americanus by visual artist Kara Walker - depicting the historical, sorrowful story of slavery and colonization - as our setting, and particularly as the spirit of the film, this important monument creates another layer of depth and meaning to an invisible yet shared history."
  • Poets Solomon O.B. and Benjamin Zephaniah also show up in the video along with the radio host Clara Amfo.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.

Crystal Waters

Crystal WatersSongwriter Interviews

Waters tells the "Gypsy Woman" story, shares some of her songwriting insights, and explains how Dennis Rodman ended up on one of her songs.

Mark Arm of Mudhoney

Mark Arm of MudhoneySongwriter Interviews

When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Judas Priest

Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.