Jorja Smith has released the visual for her new single, Rose Rouge. The video is an amalgamation of clips in support of the recent Black Lives Matter movement. The single is taken from the upcoming Blue Note Re:Imagined collection, which is due for release in September.

The visual opens with light blue text atop a black background, which rapidly names the cities that hosted Black Lives Matter protests. It builds up to reveal the powerful W.E.B DuBois’ quote; ‘A system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect’. The video slaloms to the beat for the remainder of the six minute audio. It cuts between clips of the recent Black Lives Matter protests and icons from previous Civil Rights movements, such as Martin Luther King and Angela Davis. Poignant quotes are continually interlaced, resulting in a powerful clip which pays tribute to the ongoing battle against inequality and prejudice.

Rose Rogue is the headline single which previews the upcoming Blue Note collection. It is a cover of St. Germain’s classic jazz release, of the same name. Smith revamps the beat and adds her own distinctive vocals to create a rich, modern, re-imagining of the 20-year old track. The tune gives fans a sample of what to expect from Blue Note Re:Imagined, which was announced on the 10th June.

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To all my fans, I love you all and I hope you love me, my family, my ancestors, where I come from and what has shaped me. I want to write a song about what’s happening and been happening because that’s how I communicate with you, but I can’t. It’s not me saying I don’t want to address what’s going on, I’m actually lost for words, I feel I don’t have any new vocabulary. I know how I feel though, angry, upset and confused that my people continue to suffer and fight for equality in societies built on oppression and have been suffering and fighting for so long. At times ‘Blue Lights’ is one of the last songs in my set. A song that I didn’t want to be relevant today, a song that was written before me, for me, a song that will be written today and next week. A song about the injustice and killing of black lives. If you’ve done nothing wrong blue lights should just pass you by? Sounds so naive. J Song by @leah.musicuk Pages from James Baldwin – The Fire Next Time

A post shared by jmoney (@jorjasmith_) on Jun 1, 2020 at 5:03am PDT

Blue Note is a historic American Jazz record label that is currently owned by Universal Records. The announcement outlined that ‘classic Blue Note tracks‘ are to be ‘reworked and newly recorded by a selection of the UK scene’s most exciting young talents today’. The label hope that the body of work represents a ‘bridge between the past and future‘. Jorja Smith is the perfect act to headline the label’s renaissance having earned acclaim from both sides of the Atlantic for her soulful vocal range. Her popularity was emphasised by her 2019 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

The touching visuals to Rose Rouge compliment the track’s smooth sound to create an expressive package, filled with political sensibility and artistic talent. The upcoming Blue Note collection aims to connect the past and future of the Jazz label. It is the same bridge that Smith treads in the visual, which links the talisman’s of the Civil Rights movement and the modern Black Lives Matter protests. The result is a six minute clip which simultaneously pays tribute to the strides that the movement has taken in the last few weeks, whilst galvanises for the continuing fight against inequality.