Music Music Videos

El Boy Die – “Dead Kings” Music Video

Vee Hua 華婷婷1 min readApril 17, 2011Add comment

Unfortunately, El Boy Die’s 2010 release, Black Hawk Ladies And Tambourins, slipped any kind of major coverage on REDEFINE, but this video for “Dead Kings” will have to serve as a primer. A video collage of grainy archival war footage, the sights are incredible but haunting — showing mushroom clouds silencing soldiers to the point of awe. But this video is not putting forth a political message, at least not ostensibly. If anything, it seems to draw attention to the beauty of barren places, of wartorn lands, and of evil. Similarly, the whole of Black Hawk Ladies And Tambourins pulls in influence from distraught and mystical worlds, both medieval and tribal, to reform into an album that is centered around death, in the most sonically fulfilling of ways.

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Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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