Video: MILCK, ‘Quiet’

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MILCK
MILCK

Los Angeles-based artist Connie Lim, aka MILCK, has gone viral thanks to a massive response to her a capella, guerilla-style performance of her single, “Quiet,” with a group of 25 women at the Women’s March in Washington D.C. this past Saturday. The moment was captured by film and music video director Alma Har’el, and shared by Emma Watson, Denis Leary, Amy Poehler’s “Smart Girls,” Debra Messing, and now the Washington Post and BuzzFeed. She launched the song in tandem with the #ICantKeepQuiet campaign to raise awareness against the abuse of women and minorities (proceeds from merchandise benefit the L.A. chapter of Step Up).

The felicitous timing of the song’s release isn’t just convenient, it’s powerful. “Quiet” was written as a testament to Lim’s rise against physical and sexual abuse, depression and anorexia. According to Lim, “as a survivor of anorexia, domestic abuse and depression, and a black sheep daughter to a traditional, first-generation Chinese American family, I’ve felt unheard many a time in my life. I never felt like I could speak up, because when I did, my truth was not welcome. So I learned to stay quiet.”

Lim’s story is not interchangeable with every transgender and cisgender female in the country, but the lyrics to “Quiet” are easily applicable – “put on your face / know your place / shut up and smile / don’t spread your legs” sung by MILCK’s haunting vocals, followed by “I can’t keep quiet, no / A one woman riot, oh” over an anthemic drum beat as the song builds. The video, directed by Sammi Cohen, was inspired by the election. According to Cohen, “The allegorical nature of the piece is supposed to elicit an emotional reaction and propel people into action, breaking glass ceilings, shattering silence, and empowering women to march forward into action.”

No matter the polarizing opinions on the Women’s March and the current state of affairs in this country, there’s no denying the power behind MILCK and her feminist anthem. She is woman; hear her roar.

||| Watch: “Quiet”

||| Also: Stream the song here