North Macedonian artist Filip Tasevski-Fitz, aka Blackstate, takes a long hard, and at times comical, look at life on social media, with new single and video, ‘#FollowMe’.
For twenty years or so, Filip was fully immersed in the DIY hardcore and punk scene, tearing up stages with North Macedonian punk powerhouse The Beginnings. At his heart however, he knew he was the sort of artist who thrived on experimentation, innovation, and upending expectations, and so he developed his Blackstate project. Shaped by the Skopje underground, the experimental project is laced with gripping synthesizer textures, razor-sharp wit, and his uncanny knack for unearthing demons that lay deep down inside.
With ‘#FollowMe’, Filip shines a light on the current state of “reality”, where people everywhere are glued to their phones. The song and music video take an unapologetic stab at those people who no longer have any interest in the true reality beyond the screen, and instead, preferring to engage with an ever-growing gaggle of fame-hungry influencers, and would-be social media sensations, all out for the glamour and glory to be found online.
With a buoyant melody that almost as if we are stepping inside a high energy video game, ‘#FollowMe’ sees Tasevski-Fitz get straight into the headspace of those “losing it and losing out”. It’s a delightfully biting parody, all wrapped up in a package of a generation that’s been pixelated and digitised beyond all recognition.
Anyone who’s tried to make a living off music in this day and age knows just how much it involves having an active presence on social media – sadly, long gone are the days when introverted artists could just sit back and let their music do all the hard work. Blackstate knows this all too well, and in the music video for ‘#FollowMe’ he shows just how much curating a dedicated social media following has become a full-time a job for so many.
We see Tasevski-Fitz step into the role of a social media clout-chaser, in one of those playful, over-dramatised scenarios that will be all too familiar for those of us who spend time on their socials. With cleverly-angled livestream setups, to podcast rooms filled with propped-up mics and fake plants, to the loyal crews who dare not steal a single second in the spotlight. Just like in the Wizard Of Oz, we are encouraged by the influencers to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, but Tasevski-Fitz has no fear in pulling it back, and reveals just how much of an absurd circus it’s all become.
Watch the music video for ‘#FollowMe’ below and find out more about Blackstate and his music online on his official website, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
