DJ and musician Mena Sachdev, who goes by Ushamami on stage, premiered their new music video for “Jinx” with Dazed last week. With a very 80s inspired melody and gorgeous, decidedly queer visuals, “Jinx” is a song to find comfort in.
While the chorus croons “she loves you bad, don’t turn away,” images of intimacy appear on the screen — touching, holding, putting on your companion’s makeup, smiling together — Ushamami has created a physical space to occupy. It’s warm and inviting. Above all, it fits to every form.
“I think the biggest influence was just looking at our own queer communities and thinking of ways we could build off of the different types of intimacy, environments, and styles we see in our lives and relationships,” Ushamami told Kajal. “We really wanted to show the complexity of what a queer relationship can be, and this idea was intertwined with the production of the each distinct aestheticized space. For example, for the bathroom scene with Gio, we showed how putting makeup on a partner can be such an intimate and flirtatious thing, and, to us, feels so deeply and beautifully queer.”
“I showed the video to my friend Jasdeep who is an amazing filmmaker and they said something that really stuck with me: ‘This doesn’t feel like a reaction to misrepresentation, it’s more of an assertion.’ I loved that. I want this to be an assertion of queer style, sound, connection. The message of jinx feels unapologetic to me, and I hope that it gives voice and validation to other queer folks,” they continued.
This is Ushamami’s first music video. “Jinx” is directed by Clare Dingle with creative direction from Ana Marx, photography by Alexis Gomez, color by Grace Naw, and lighting by Polina Zakharova. The video features Ushamami, Ana Marx, Gio Santiago, Rebecca Cumberbatch, and Aarish Rojiani.