S.Lo on October 25th, 2019

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Madame (Kiran) Gandhi is here to get work done. That’s not to say she doesn’t want to have fun at the same time. But if you want to hang with her, “then you have to roll up your sleeves and work with” her to solve the world’s problems.

In her latest single and video, “Top Knot Turn Up,” off her “Visions” EP released today, Gandhi is here to set an example that not only is ‘her’ (all women’s) time valuable, but that females have a purpose greater than being available for others. “One thing to know, I’m not here to please / Hair tied up, I do it properly / My time is not your property / When I’m productive like my ovaries.”

The message is strong and so is the beat. “I love Brazilian trap music, I love baile-funk,” says the drummer-songwriter, “but I don’t like all the lyrics that come with it.” Wanting to offer an alternative to the misogyny, she enlisted the help of Brazilian trap producer Ruxell, “a total ally in the sense that he’s a very, very fem-positive person.”  The result is a banger that Gandhi admits is “that to this day is probably my most fun to perform live.”

The video, directed by Justine Raczkiewicz, is a choreographed celebration of the message, with wild hair sculptures (by Lady Soulfly and other nonbinary stylists from They LA, inspired by Ivorian artist KY) adorning a diverse group of people. “We have this surrealist courtroom scene to reclaim our own rights,” Gandhi shared, “but to also subliminally inspire more women and femmes and queer folks who watch the video to remember that we have to infiltrate those spaces if we do want to make change.”

The future is focused female.

||| Watch: The video for “Top Knot Turn Up”

||| Live: Madame Gandhi plays the Echoplex on December 10 (tickets).

||| Stream: “Visions”

||| Previously: “Bad Habits”