VIDEO: Princess Nokia – Brujas

Princess Nokia’s “Brujas” is just that. A highlight off the Afro-Nuyorican MC’s 1992 mixtape, it’s a much-needed celebration of Afro-Latina identity and its rich spiritual heritage. The 24-year-old New Yorker (Destiny Nicole Frasqueri) draws on Santeria and Yoruba spirituality to deliver a blazing track that highlights the many layers of her Afro-Latina identity. “I’m that Blackorican bruja. Straight out from the Yoruba, and my people come from Africa-diaspora Cuba,” the singer rhymes over chopped and screwed production. The mystifying aura of these divinities is reproduced in an ethereal video. Co-directed by Princess Nokia and New-York-based, Turkish filmmaker Asli Baykal, it sees the artist and a group of her sisters—who look like deities themselves in their afros and all-white garments—channeling the spirits as they congregate in a forest to serve pure black and brown girl magic. “Brujas” is a vibrant exploration of the unique cultural inheritance of Afro-Latina women.