By Verónica Bayetti Flores • @veroconplatanos • 9 years ago

Feministing Jamz video of the week: Kelela – “A Message”

It seems that the last year has been all about dreamy collaborations, and this week we found out about one more: Kelela and Arca.

Apparently Kelela and the queer Venezuelan producer Arca met back in 2012, and have been working on this track together ever since. That work’s paid off — the result is fresh, simple, and exactly the kind of weirdo-R&B many of us have come to expect and love from Kelela.

A few of us here at Feministing were slightly devastated when Kelela cancelled her U.S. tour dates to focus on new work, but this new track and video — along with the announcement of the Hallucinogen EP due out on May 5th — help soothe the pain while we wait for new U.S. dates. If you’re reading from Europe, though, rejoice! She will be coming your way soon.

5/14 – Brighton, United Kingdom @ The Great Escape Festival
5/15 – Lyon, France @ Nuits sonores
5/16 – Rome, Italy @ Spring Attitude Festival
5/18 – Helsinki, Finland @ Kuudes Linja
519 – Prague, Czech Republic @ MeetFactory
5/20 – Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture
5/22 – Paris, France @ Point Éphémère Tickets: bit.ly/kelelaparis
5/24 – Bristol, United Kingdom @ Love Saves The Day
5/26 – London, United Kingdom @ XOYO Tickets: bit.ly/kelelaxoyo
5/28 – Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound Festival
5/30 – Dublin, Ireland @ Forbidden Fruit Festival
5/31 – Berlin, Germany @ Berlin Festival

Verónica Bayetti Flores

New York, NY

Verónica Bayetti Flores has spent the last years of her life living and breathing reproductive justice. She has led national policy and movement building work on the intersections of immigrants' rights, health care access, young parenthood, and LGBTQ liberation, and has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, and demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color. In 2008 Verónica obtained her Master’s degree in the Sexuality and Health program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She loves cooking, making art, listening to music, and thinking about the ways art forms traditionally seen as feminine are valued and devalued. In addition to writing for Feministing, she is currently spending most of her time doing policy work to reduce the harms of LGBTQ youth of color's interactions with the police and making sure abortion care is accessible to all regardless of their income.

Verónica is a queer immigrant writer, activist, and rabble-rouser.

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