Fujii Kaze gives us drag, gays and Janet Jackson in his music video for “I Need U Back”

Fujii Kaze has released a music video for “I Need U Back”. And I’ve gotta say — it’s really great that Kaze is still in on music videos at a time when they no longer feel like a given. Beyoncé famously released two entire albums and did not release a single music video for either of their singles. Perfume released two albums, which got one music video each (I’m not counting “Moon”). And for these two acts in particular, the drastic cutback on music videos was a big deal, as they were acts known for their music videos. And we’ve been seeing singles releasing without music videos becoming more of a trend. So shout-outs to Kaze for still giving us music videos.

I do like me some visual consistency. So it’s really cool that the videos for “Love Like This”, “Prema” and “I Need U Back” all share the same warm tones as one another.

This video is sure to have people talking about Kaze’s sexuality, all because he’s in make-up. As though straight men don’t do drag. As though Kabuki is not a form of drag. For me, Kaze doing drag feels very in character for him. But it also makes sense to me when I just think of the references. “I Need U Back” is a very 80s song. And Kaze’s drag looks are very 80s. And the first person I thought of when I first saw Kaze in make-up was Yellow Magic Orchestra member Ryuichi Sakamoto — who had a period during the 80s where he frequently wore make-up. And there is a section in the video where Kaze is playing with a band, in a look which reminded me a lot of Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Fujii Kaze - I Need U Back | Universal Music

Kaze in makeup is undoubtedly going to be a focus for a lot of people. But for me, the thing that really caught my attention was how much this video reminded me of Janet Jackson’s “Escapade”. It is so damn similar. The set. The outfits. Even there being guys on stilts. The day cycle. Even some of the choreography looked like it was inspired by Janet Jackson. If Janet’s “Escapade” video was not on the mood board or an influence for “I Need U Back”, then GIRL. Somebody is lying.

This was a really cool video though. And I like that Kaze was pursuing a girl whilst in drags. Just to hammer home that a man in make-up does not equals gay.

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