Stogie T’s Visuals for ‘Love & War’ Use Contrasting Colors to Explore the Complexity of Heroism

A few months ago, Stogie T highlighted the song "Love & War" as a single from his latest EP The Empire of Sheep, released in November 2019. After releasing a deluxe version of the project last week, today the south African emcee shares a music video for "Love & War," which features the emerging vocalist Lucille Slade.

The visuals, which are the work of Cape Town-based filmmaker Motion Billy, are as striking as the song, which casts the spotlight on our heroes' flaws as human beings, especially infidelity and bad parenting. It must be noted that Stogie T was born in exile to parents who were involved in the struggle against apartheid.

A quote from the video's description on YouTube reads:

"'Love and War' speaks of the strange state of heroism and delinquency. How our heroes who achieve the most magnificent feats spectacularly fail with the simplest things. It is personal, political, triumphant and deprecating."

Towards the end of the song, Stogie T raps:

"Martin Luther had a floozy, Hoover was recording/ My poppa died for a freedom that I now enjoy/ But left some frightening demons we ain't recovered from"

The visuals contrast the bad and the good (love and war) through the use of color. Stogie T and Lucille Slade are dressed in strikingly bright colors. Their performance scenes are intercut with cutaways showing a group of black people (mostly children) in a somber mood with candles in their hands during what looks like a vigil, as if to reflect on the country's current state. We also follow a young woman in the hood who loses her partner and is left holding his work uniform, which could be symbolic of the burdens women are left with when their husbands die. That scene strategically plays as the emcee fittingly raps:

"The brave stories In the history books/ But slain soldier uniform and dirty laundry, what the widows took/ Love-child with the village hooker/ The scandal is hidden in the nook"

"Love and War" is only one of many songs on The Empire of Sheep that offer an alternative look at the struggle against apartheid. In most of the EP's song, the rapper looks at the dire state of affairs in South Africa, and ponders on the sacrifices made by those who fought in the struggle (which really was a war) against apartheid.

Watch the music video for "Love & War" below and stream The Empire of Sheep (Deluxe Unmasked) on Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer.

Stogie T - Love & War (feat. Lucille Slade) [Official Music Video]youtu.be