Premiere: Watch: Asbjørn Unveils ‘Unfollow’ Video

There’s one way to announce yourself - in sharing a song spontaneously, seeing it spread like wildfire, taking off like a speeding plane. Or there’s another, in unveiling something up to its neck in detail, something meticulously calculated and the products of months and months of work.

Asbjørn chose the latter. The Danish artist is constantly creative, and recently he’s been sharing videos that make up a four-part piece. Part 1 and Part 2 are already available now. Next in the Pseudo Vision series is ‘Unfollow’, which matches paint-fighting imagery, colours sprayed across walls with short, snapping electronic pop, like a cross between Active Child and Baths.

POWERCLAP directs. Watch the video first on DIY. Below, we’ve interviewed Asbjørn about his views on gender identities and how they play into music and how backwards attitudes stunt progressive change.

The EP ‘Pseudo Visions - Chapter One’ will be released on 1st May.



- What do you make of the recent comments from Lord Jamar about the boundaries of hip-hop, specifically when related to artists like Le1f and Mykki Blanco?
He’s the embodiment of everything I fear in the human race! When I talk about masculine diversity it also includes Mr. Lord Jamar, ‘cause his type of man is relatable to many. But being afraid of other ways to express masculinity, like the refreshing Le1f (awesome performance on Letterman), seems like a waste of energy and I think it says a lot about Lord Jamar that he’s so afraid of that movement. Guys like Mykki Blanco and Frank Ocean opened up hip-hop to a lot of people including myself and Lord Jamar benefits from that too. It’s not about sexuality; it’s about putting yourself on the line and communicating something important. There should be no limits to honesty in music. This says it all.

- How does your music relate to an effort to expand ideas and change pre-conceptions about masculinity in music?
In my childhood I didn’t really see myself in any of the male icons of pop music so I looked to the women for inspiration instead. That has affected a lot of facets in my music, my lyrics and performance, but it’s never been on expense of my masculinity. Masculinity is not dependant on what you wear, what you say, what you do – it’s about how you wear, say or do it. And hopefully my way of doing these thing is relatable to some of the young boys or men who can’t identify with the mainstream ideal.

- What have the most important changes been related to this, and what needs to be done to improve?
Recently, I think Frank Ocean made a very subtle but important move in “Thinkin Bout You”. It’s a universal love song, poetic and genius, and happens to be about another man. It reminded me a lot of the riot around “Papa Don’t Preach” by Madonna, which created a really important discussion about abortion between the Catholic Church, youth and parents. And I think that’s the great thing about pop music; if you manage to wrap these important messages into something universal and beautiful you can really change something, because it becomes a part of peoples belief system on another level.