Videopremiere: blackwave. - champion feat. Jordan Mackampa

Das mittlerweile in Los Angeles lebende und arbeitende belgische Duo blackwave., bestehend aus dem Rapper Jay Atohoun und dem Sänger und Produzenten Willem Ardui hat seine neue Single ‚champion‘ samt Video veröffentlicht.

Jay über die neue Single:

„This song for me is a special one, the concept came from a place of nostalgia and empowerment but deep down also some necessary introspection of what shaped me as a person. My dad had always called me a Champion, always told me and sort of pushed the idea of being one of the greatest in whatever I did on me. From my earliest memories, until he passed away about 2 years ago. Which in itself is and was a double edged sword. It positively influenced me in a sense that if I get myself into something, I always strive to be part of the best of the best in that field. Which has also led to negative thoughts whenever I wasn’t achieving that. Especially if I realised I was being lacklustre in my efforts. I’ve sort of always realised it but it’s something I’ve only really been reflecting on since his passing, which made me zoom in and think about his and generally my parents’ involvement in the shaping of my being. Tackling the approach and vision of both my mom and dad’s way of nurturing me in a very direct, self reflective and honest way was a very teary eyed yet necessary experience to grow.“

Jordan:

„I was a kid that was alwaysy told how special they were — but it only added to the pressure & standard l felt I had to live up to. Creating this song with the guys has been incredibly healing and helped me see, that even when you feel like you’ve lost, in someone else’s eyes you’re still a winner.“

Willem:

„We wrote Champion together with Jordan Mackampa when we were in London for writing sessions. Everything happened really spontaneously. Jordan and I started jamming on guitar and bass, I added some percussion and Jay came up with the concept. It’s such a personal topic for all of us, but still we approached it in our own unique way, incorporating our own story into it. For me it was the general feeling of pressure that you put on yourself to do better, to be the best, and constantly feeling like the outside world is putting that pressure on you while it might just be a process going on in your own head.
When Jean sent me the lyrics to his second verse (he wrote it a couple of months after our session with Jordan, when we were doing a writing camp with just the two of us in the middle of the woods in Belgium), it was the first time that I cried just reading someone’s lyrics. It’s so honest and at the same time is written with so much insight into the situation that it just cut really deep, especially knowing Jean and what he’s been through.“