In the Yoruba faith, Ibeyi is a deity represented by twins. Throughout their career as under that name, twins Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz have unpacked the lore and mysticism surrounding this concept. Their breakthrough self-titled debut in 2015, and then 2017’s elegant sophomore album Ash, raised the stakes for the pair and even saw them included in Beyonce’s video film Lemonade. Nearly four years after Ash, in early 2021, they went back into the studio to work on their next album.
The first song from those sessions was “Made Of Gold,” and it features Gambian-British rapper Pa Salieu. Set to rhythmic drum patterns and the joint vocals from Ibeyi, it’s a well-produced tune that gets additional flair from Salieu. It plays on different points of energy, closing with Lisa-Kaindé reading an excerpt from The Ancient Egyptian Book Of The Dead. In a statement, she shared some insight into the track:
“The first song we produced in the studio was “Made of Gold.” Whilst we were creating the layers of the backing vocals, we could feel that we were making contact with our ancestors; that what we were recording was calling on the brujas and our ancestors for their ancient knowledge. “Made of Gold” is about connecting to our ancestors’ knowledge, to the truths of the past and the power of the ancient. The line is not broken, nor is it lost. Protected by these spells, our third album will see us conveying our reconnection to that power and channeling that magic into our new music.”
The video, which the pair said was inspired by Frida Kahlo’s painting “The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Diego, Me, and Senor Xolotl,” is loaded with Yoruba iconography. It also features an entrancing interpretive dance number performed by Nigeria’s Ebinum Brothers. Pa Salieu drops down from the heavens in kingly attire and it all totally works to create the mystical canvas that Ibeyi sought out to paint.
Watch the video for “Made Of Gold” above.