Daniela Andrade Paints an Empowering Portrait of Female Immigrants in "Tamale" Video
Photo: Jeff Kwok
Daniela Andrade's new music video, which she co-directed, for "Tamale" is a thrilling look into a utopia for the Honduran-Canadian songstress. In the song, Andrade pairs her Honduran identity alongside the sweet anticipation of prepping tamales and horchata, wrapping the entire affair with a sultry, jazzy beat as delicately and intentionally as one would wrap a corn husk around a dollop of maize and meat.
As for the video, we are graced with a sensual combination of a Tasty production and The Godfather. With that curious imagery in mind, the "Tamale" visual features Andrade as a leather-clad mob boss, along with her family’s matriarchs raking in the moolah for the sale of their masa.
As a child, her family's tamale business was used to send funds to her extended family back in Honduras, a responsibility familiar to almost any child of immigrants. The money wasn't always constant though, and she would dream of a time and place where their tamales were so sought after that her family would be set for life; those dreams are where the visuals for this video were born. Andrade shared some insight into the concept for the video and the inspiration for the song, sharing,
"When I was writing 'Tamale,' a lot of this imagery came to mind; women gathered, talking and cooking amazing food. I ran with the idea of a heightened reality where our tamales are in high demand, making money off them is a breeze and we have enough to take care of our own. Heightened or not, the energy my mom and my sisters put into making them was always with a sense of empowerment, and that's stayed with me."
Andrade's tamale-topia visual also doubles as the name of her acclaimed EP, Tamale, which was released at the tail-end of last year. For those who cannot get enough of "Tamale," take solace in the fact that the EP features seven more lusciously produced tracks that frame her Honduran identity with enchanting vocals and light, lo-fi beats.
Watch the "Tamale" video below:
