Nicole Santiago is one of those artists whose early steps you follow, hoping that’s just the beginning of a race worth watching.
In the recent months, we heard her collaborations with local projects, and earlier with Frente Caribe, the master Toné Vicioso, and some songs that were the premonition of her career as a soloist and the consequent recording of her first material.
Rebirth is an art, re-inventing is an act of a great value, risking everything to get the exact point. That idea that will take off. Apparently that’s what Nicole does when she turns into Nikola, the name she will use from now to enchant us with one of the best instruments, her voice.
Her song “Slow” is sexy, delicate, you get tied between the notes of a trumpet, reggae, jazz, dub, and the soul of Nikola. It’s passionate, enveloping, and seductive.
The video documents a full day of rituality and spirituality of Cimarrona during the celebration of the Gagá of Batey San Luís, an illustrious Dominican/Haitian ritual. It’s a centerpiece and pre-preparation for the queen on the day she prepares for a contact with the other reality.
The director of this clip is Bonayel Mota, filmmaker, producer, musician and photographer, who is also a constant cultural activist and has belonged to the Gagá of San Luis for a long time. He has investigated and protected this cultural heritage with zeal, a reality that is pleasantly felt in the material, also with the impeccable audiovisual quality that represents his work.
The idea was to take us on a trip, and it does indeed. They walked us slowly and with patience for the nuances that emulate the poetic beauty of this ritual. A delicate and punctual reminder that we should just sit and devote ourselves to observing in a reverent way, to end in love.
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