Okay, I’ll admit it: I was a bit skeptical of Sailorr at first. Music journalists get dozens of press emails about “rising R&B stars” all the time, and they rarely pan out, even if they have viral tracks’ like “Pookie’s Requiem,” “Down Bad,” and “Cut Up.”
But then I saw the cover of Sailorr’s newly released mixtape, From Florida’s Finest, and her video for the focus track “Bitches Brew,” and I gotta say: I’m sold. From the cheeky reimagining of an Animorphs cover to the visual references to the iconic Renaissance painting The Birth Of Venus in the “Bitches Brew” video, and even the title “Bitches Brew” — a nod to jazz legend Miles Davis’ psychedelic, genre-redefining 1970 album — Sailorr has won me over as a self-aware future star, in the vein of a Summer Walker or a SZA.
It all starts here, with a video filmed on the Florida beaches that were the Vietnamese-American talent’s old stomping grounds. They remain so, as she struts the sand in monster boots and a pink bikini, roasting Barbie dolls on the barbecue, lounging with her homegirls in a giant inflatable clamshell, and even bringing out a treadmill to ensure she gets in her steps on something a bit more solid. It’s a wild, surreal visual that could only have come to life in Florida, and only come from an imagination that welcomes inspiration from influences both highbrow and low — the perfect recipe for a heady brew that will almost certainly lead to the growth of an already hardcore fanbase.
Watch Sailorr’s “Bitches Brew” video above.
From Florida’s Finest is out now via BuVision. You can find more info here.