ÌFÉ, a new Afro-Puerto Rican group, has kept us on our toes thanks to their spiritual and futuristic take on electronic roots music. The powerful visuals for “House of Love” let us walk on a spiritual path with Otura Mun (founder, member, and director of the group) as our guide. ÌFÉ, meaning “love” and “expansion” in Yoruba, take us on a tour of Otura Mun’s home and studio, a late 19th century wooden house that once served as Puerto Rico’s first Temple of the Yoruba.
Directed by photographer Luis R. Vidal and Otura Mun himself, the circular and smoky imagery gives the video a magical and cinematic quality. Otura Mun invites us to take part his rituals. From playing instruments to meditating to shaving hair, the video makes a grand thematic statement on seduction and healing. Synths and Yoruba chants come together in a beautiful marriage of the traditional and digital, creating a new space and sound of its own.
Sacred imagery commands most of the video, and the only time words do show up they spell “Black Power.” It’s a bold statement on Afro-Puerto Rican and Yoruba culture, followed by the appearance of faceless black dancers. Mun, a Babaláwo, or high priest in the Ifá side of Yoruba religion, uses this video as a conversation with spirits and ancestors. The dreamlike imagery is a beautiful expression of ancestral power, with Mun forging connections between the traditional and the contemporary.